


Loves Lost Temple

by domesticmarkjin



Category: ASTRO (Band), GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Ancient History, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Forbidden Love, Gay Sex, Historical, M/M, Military, Period-Typical Homophobia, Shameless Smut, Shower Sex, Soldiers, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-02-28 03:51:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 52,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13263063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/domesticmarkjin/pseuds/domesticmarkjin
Summary: Tired of waiting for war, Mark goes for a late night stroll. He doesn't expect the bombing to happen so soon, nor does he expect to be blasted into... the past? When he comes to he's in the same spot, but not the same time. He's scared, lost, but at least Jinyoung warms up to the idea of helping him.(Time Travel AU, Mark is a soldier in current times, Jinyoung is a soldier in the past, and they somehow find a way to fight not only the enemy but their feelings along the way.)





	1. 1417

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to toni, even though this might not be top!mark...

“Where you heading?”

“I need some air. I’ll be right back. I can’t keep sitting here just waiting.”

“Alright dude, don’t get caught. I’m not cleaning the barracks because of you.”

“You aren’t funny. We aren’t prisoners. Just get some sleep, tomorrow is supposed to be a shitty day.”

Mark grumbled as he left the room, careful not to let the large door slam shut behind him. Of course he would get stuck with the door that didn’t work. Adjusting his backpack before zipping up his jacket, Mark let out a exhausted sigh before walking down the slim brightly lit hallway leading to outside. Everything was painted an annoying stark white, hospital like in color, though far more depressing. He pushed open the heavy metal door before heading down the squeaking metal stairs. A temporary setup for the occupying army. Maneuvering through base was easy enough. It wasn’t big, and at this time of night nobody really paid attention to anything. There were a few stragglers walking around, trying to find things to do during sleepless nights, even if their fun was limited. The impending threat of war loomed in the air making people restless. Mark was always one of them. But he was never restless because of war.

At least that would give him something to do. 

Keeping his head down as he made his way off base, hands shoved deep into his pockets, Mark listened to the grumbling of the soldier watching the entrance, mumbling something about being back before hours. Mark never paid attention to that. He just kept moving, falling into step as his backpack softly hit his back with each hurried step. In it his usual stash of medical supplies, snacks, a change of clothes, and a notebook for when inspiration struck.

He made his way down the familiar path leading in through town, they had been stationed at an old fisherman village that hadn’t yet caught up with modern times. The roads needed significant work compared to the perfection in the giant city a few miles up north, the homes were modest middle class yet eerily out of code, even the decorations screamed that this city was doing everything it could to cling to the past. Mark couldn’t help but admire the antique feel of it all. How he could tell there was a lot of history and proud families that had lived there for generations. The way the entire place not only smelled of history, but had that feel to it. All of it made Mark feel oddly at peace. He knew the place had seen war, probably a few times, that the townsfolk were no strangers to soldiers walking around it’s streets. Nobody gave his uniform a second glance, or questioned the American flag embroidered on his jacket. They just offered him smiles, and knowing nods.

Mark made his usual first stop at a small little side shop to grab a drink, and a small snack, before he ventured to a part of town he hadn’t yet explored. It was late so not much was going on. There were a handful of people sitting outside eating street food quietly, most likely fisherman getting ready for a long night at sea. They were chattering on about daily catches, and how fish had been sparse. Almost as if the fish could tell a war was coming, and not the real reason of over crowded sushi houses with an endless demand for rapidly decreasing fish populations. He wouldn't get into that, a soldier trying to argue about how to save the world was a little hypocritical. He wasn’t there to make the world better, just help heal the endless chaos the human race created as efficiently as possible. 

Every day Mark tried to see more of the city if he could, and at night, it allowed him to move around without having to deal with many people. No explanation of who he was, and what he was doing there. People asking to take pictures with the soldier in the bright blue uniform that wasn’t blending in at all, but rather standing out. Mark liked this time of night because it offered him the chance to have a peace and quiet he hadn’t been able to experience since he enlisted.

Mark looked up when he saw a flash in the distance, a blinding white light followed by a plume of smoke that signaled the start of something atrocious. The ground started to shake shortly after, residual effects of whatever just hit. Groaning to himself, he saw another bright flash land closer to the village, and heard the blaring alarms sound from the base behind him.

The time had come.

Quickly, he threw his drink in a nearby garbage, because recycling even in a time of war was important, and started to run full sprint back towards the base. He stopped only due to a closer explosion, followed by the sound of a child crying. Taking cover as bits of building flew his way, Mark looked over to see the same people who had been sitting and talking, now laying on the street covered in food and blood, and a child trapped under a noodle cart that had tipped over from the blast. Mark made quick work of lifting the cart up before helping the child out of the space, he could tell right away that he had a badly injured leg, several burns from the hot cooking liquids, and Mark knew he was in no position to move on his own.

Bending down he scooped the child up, cradling his head against his chest as he moved to a secure looking building not far from where he was, an old temple of sorts. The ground shook as another explosion went off, Mark’s legs moved faster as the boy screamed in fear. Quickly pushing by some people, Mark took cover inside the building at the end of the court yard. Scared people were curled up together, praying loudly to their gods, soft whimpers could be heard as they tried their best not to cry. Mark set the child down with a middle aged woman, doing his best to get the child to stop moving so much to prevent him from hurting himself further, before explaining to the woman that he would be back with help. She thanked him for bringing her the boy, vowing to keep him safe until the soldier returned. Mark nodded his head before he ran through the temple to the out back courtyard to try and find anything he could use to makshift a splint for the boys leg. Grabbing cloths and bits of wood from the surrounding debris, he spun quick on his heels. Mark managed to steady himself before another loud explosion landed too close for comfort, knocking Mark back. He smacked into a small statue and lost consciousness, body falling into a nearby pile of fallen rocks and wood a little ways down the hill. 

No clue how much time had passed, or where he even was, Mark felt hands on his shoulder shaking him awake. Groaning at the pain in his head, Mark waved away whoever was touching him before he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked several times trying to rid the blurry haze over his vision before a figure came into the picture. A man, about his age, dressed in traditional clothing hovered over him. It made sense for the place he was in, temples were often unchanged with the times. He sat up slowly, trying to prevent that post knocked out dizziness, groaning at the pain he felt as he carefully got to his feet. Again he felt hands on him, helping to steady him. This time he was thankful for it.

“I’m a medic, just give me a minute. I’ll come help.” He said as best he could, rubbing at his eyes before he finally stood upright. 

“Medic? This is not a familiar term. What is the meaning?” The man said, furrowing his eyebrows. Mark felt a bit stunned, surely he wasn’t that outdated. 

“Doctor, healer?” Neither of which were accurate, but it wasn’t his fault if people heard Medic and assumed he was a doctor.

“Healer! Not much use if you yourself need to be healed.” The man laughed and it was Mark’s turn to pout. It was unavoidable in his hurry.

“I’m okay. I just needed a minute. I should get back to the base.” He looked around, confused about the state of the temple.

No debris, it was morning, and everything seemed at peace.

“Base. You are a guard?” The man asked and Mark nodded, that was one word for it. 

“I came with the American Navy, we are stationed just outside of town.” Mark looked up, quickly ducking as a stick came from behind the man’s back and seemed to be aimed right for his head. 

“If you plan to invade, know this village is protected. Whatever America is, you will not win!”

Whatever…. America… what??

“Whoa whoa. I am here to protect you guys, not take over. I was sent here four months ago!” Mark’s hands went up in a sign of peace, looking at the man whose expression changed to that of anger. 

“Who sent you!” He demanded, oddly intimidating despite his rather lavish dressing. 

“The.. American… Navy…” Mark said slowly, maybe it was his American accent that made his Korean hard to understand. 

“American.. I’ve never heard of this. How do I know you are telling the truth!”

“You can follow me! I will take you there, if it’s safe. I don’t know how last night went.” Mark pushed the stick down, hoping whoever this was would get the hint that he wasn’t a threat. 

“Fine. But if you are lying, I will have to do something about it.” He added and Mark could only nod, not sure why this man seemed so adamant about protecting a village that was under attack not 12 hours ago.

“It’s this way.” Mark tried to get his footing, picking his bag off the floor and slinging it over his shoulders before he made his way through the temple. He could have swore it was two seconds from caving in on itself, but clearly the old wood had held up over night.

Either the people of the town were fast at clean up, or he woke up in another town, because there wasn’t a single sign of an attack anywhere. The more he looked, the more disorienting it was. The buildings were visibly different but in significantly better condition somehow, though not by much as far as modern standards were concerned. The road was pure dirt instead of patchy concrete, and his usual path through a slew of food vendors was replaced by different local shops. All of which, seemingly untouched by whatever was attacking previously. There was no view of the city off in the distance, just a world that seemed to go on forever, filled with vast hills and endless ocean.

“You look confused, is something the matter?” The strange man asked, putting his attack stick back in its proper place behind him. A relaxing thought to Mark, though he was starting to fear it would be used on him soon.

Everything felt familiar, yet nothing was familiar. Everything was off. 

“Mark. My name is Mark.” He stuttered out, not sure why he felt the need to introduce himself. The man raised an eyebrow, giving Mark a look over before he pointed to the name tape on his uniform jacket.

“This, what are these characters? Is this American language?” He asked, Mark looked down at his chest before he looked up.

American language?

“English, you mean the English language? Yes that’s it. This is my last name. TUAN.” Mark added, the man thought for a moment before he studied the characters closer.

“Tuan Mark.” He said, almost as if he were asking, rather than stating.

“Just Mark. You don’t need to call me formally.” He shrugged, unzipping his jacket some since it was a rather warm morning.

“Mark. This is very strange. I’m Park Jinyoung, nice to meet you.” The man bowed formally, putting on a more polite face which Mark was silently thankful for.

He had just woken up, in a seemingly new town, the threat of personally being attacked didn’t sound like the best idea.

“Tell me Park Jinyoung…”

“You may call me Jinyoung, since you want to be informal.”

“Right. Jinyoung, the name of this village is Gye-do, correct?”

“That is correct.” He added, Mark just nodded his head, because that meant he was still in the right place, but it wasn’t the right place. Somehow.

“Okay.” Mark said unsure, leading Jinyoung back through the town and up the little trail he typically took to get into town.

Only it didn’t lead back to base. Absent were the tall towers and metal fences keeping the town people out. Gone were the American flags and military vehicles. There was no stench of Marines and the hints of blue as Navy medics went in and out as they needed vanished. In its place was a small temple, and large wooden doors barring anyone from seeing beyond the high walls. Mark’s jaw dropped at the sight, scratching the back of his head as he walked up towards the doors and put his hands on the giant metal knocker.

“It was… right here.” Mark whimpered, starting to get nervous.

“You lead me back to my own camp. This has to be some kind of joke. What are you trying to accomplish? I will give you one chance to be honest with me, if not our travels end here.” Jinyoung looked as intimidating as he sounded, Mark had no choice but to put his hands up in hopes he could make clear that he wasn’t an imposing force.

“I’m Mark, I am a soldier sworn to protect this village. Well whatever village I get sent to, this just happened to be the one.” He decided to drop the American thing, that didn’t seem to hold any meaning to Jinyoung, not that it held any meaning anywhere these days.

“I was walking on my nightly walk into town when I noticed something happening, I ran to help a group of people and I fell. This is where I landed, but I’m not sure exactly where this is. I’m not really familiar with this country, so I may have gotten lost on my own. Please, I’m not here for nefarious reasons.” Mark said as honestly as he could, looking up at Jinyoung with eyes silently begging him to accept his truth. Jinyoung watched him for a few moments, eyes narrowed as if he were deliberating Mark’s fate before he moved to push the door to the temple open.

“I’m keeping my eyes on you, until I can know for sure what your story is. You are out of place, that’s correct, but I don’t trust that you’re not an enemy. If anything we can use you to get information.” He added, but it was a truce for now and that’s all Mark needed.

“Thank God.” Mark said in english, feeling his body relax. Jinyoung tilted his head to the side as Mark quickly said it in Korean. Jinyoung nodded some, but remained quiet as he walked inside, shutting the door behind Mark.

Beyond the doors a modest temple lay. A training facility seemed set up in the courtyard, a handful of men practicing their martial artistry. Mark noted the style of dress among them, it was all traditional Korean style clothing. Stuff you would see pinned up on mannequins in various museums around the country. From their hairstyles, to the weaponry they were using. He felt so out of place when it was typically the other way around for him. He had to admire it all though, to be content living in such simpler times. Not knowing the sting of a bullet, it would probably make for easier training to not be so scared all the time. 

“Jinyoung-ah, what have you brought us?” A broad male yelled, abandoning his training to walk over. The two bowed to each other before Jinyoung turned to Mark.

“This is Mark from America.” Jinyoung said, almost unsure of himself. Mark winced at the strange looks, how did nobody understand where he was from?

“America, where is that? Outside of Korea no doubt. You must have traveled far. I’m Im Jaebum. You may call me Jaebum if you please. Anyone on an informal basis with Jinyoung is impressive. You must be high ranking to deserve as such.” The man laughed, dodging a punch from Jinyoung who didn’t seem too thrilled that Jaebum was insinuating he was close with someone.

“It’s just not how we do things in America. We don’t go surname, first name. We just go by first name… most of the time. It’s complicated. I live quite far away.” Mark tried to stop blabbering on, wincing when he noticed more people had walked over to see the ‘stranger’ that Jinyoung had brought into the camp.

“That accent is clear, you’re not familiar with the language. I take it they don’t speak Korean where you are from either?” A blond asked, Mark shook his head no.

“We speak English.” He said in English to try and help himself out, trying not to giggle at the confused look on all their faces.

“You’re an odd one. Go wash up, it’s nearing meal time.” Jinyoung said, waving Mark off before he took his leave.

Mark almost wished he wouldn’t go, he didn’t want to be left with people he knew even less than he knew Jinyoung. Despite the fact that they all looked significantly less intimidating, they weren’t aware of his confusion. What if they were less forgiving?

“Wash up… right. Where exactly?” Mark turned to look at the two men, Jaebum and the other who seemed to be the most friendly looking, though he so far said the least.

“I’ll let you do so in my room. Jinyoung’s is very off limits for people.” The blond added, bowing his head. “Wang Jackson, but I guess we’re going by Jackson. Nice to meet you Mark, follow me.” He said, nodding for Mark to follow him as he made his way through the courtyard and into the temple.

“What is this place, are you guys soldiers?” Mark asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of sorts. We are a private order that works for King Yi Bang-won.” Jackson licked over his lips, ushering Mark to his closed off quarters. Mark removed his boots before walking inside, nervous he should have done that prior to even getting inside the temple but he would worry about that once he was alone.

“I will bring you some clothes to change into, yours look quite dirty. Please.” Jackson gestured towards a little station set up for cleaning, Mark whimpered about the lack of privacy but nodded his head. Once the door behind him was shut, Mark started to strip down, leaving his boxers on, he folded his clothes and left them by the door for Jackson to take. Carefully he started to wash himself, getting the dirt off his hands, then the dirt from his face. When he heard the slide open he looked up, drying his face off with a provided cloth.

“I left the clothes there for you, I’m sorry if they are complicated to clean.” Mark looked up to see not Jackson, but Jinyoung standing there, dressed in more relaxed clothes. Clothes more similar to what everyone else was in, though you could tell from the vibrant colors that he was someone of importance compared to the others.. Mark stammered for a moment, feeling strange as if he shouldn’t be seeing Jinyoung in such a relaxed light.

He just met him, what was wrong with him.

“You’re naked!” Jinyoung gasped, quickly covering his eyes. Mark looked down, thinking for a moment he had removed his boxers, or that they had gotten wet and tight to his body.

“What, no I’m not. I have myself covered.” He added, moving to grab the little robe Jackson laid out for him. He looked at it strange, not sure how to properly put it on. Turning the bit of cloth inside and out until he tried his best to get it on. Jinyoung looked up from covering his eyes to see Mark struggling and carefully moved over to help, though he kept his eyes away from his bare skin as best he could.

“May I?” He asked, not wanting to touch Mark without his approval. Mark nodded his head, happy that Jinyoung seemed trusting enough to offer him help. Why he was in Jackson’s room, Mark didn’t know, but it must have been for a reason.

“Please.” Mark added, moving to hand the clothing over to Jinyoung.

“These are smart, a simple way to keep yourself modest while you’re changing.” Jinyoung nodded down towards Mark’s boxers. “You never know if someone might come by, and it’s a sin to see ones naked body outside of marriage. At least to me it is anyway. What joy is there in seeing what everyone has already seen?” Jinyoung made quick work of getting Mark dressed, his hands worked almost like air, getting him all tied up the proper way.

“But what about at bath houses? Isn’t that common here. You guys are naked all the time.” 

“Step in please.” Jinyoung bent down to help Mark with the bottoms, it partly made Mark feel like a child even if he knew he needed the help. “I don’t go to those, it’s very public and like I said, I’m waiting for the right person to come along. Then I can wash up with them.” Jinyoung smiled, bending down to help Mark with the pants, though he let Mark pull them up over his private parts. Jinyoung tied them for him, careful that his hands kept their distance before he took several steps back to look at his work.

“Much better. Your clothing before was quite odd, though provided ample coverage. The days are hot, this should be far more comfortable for you. Are you hungry?” Jinyoung asked, Mark looked up from inspecting his new clothes before he nodded his head.

“Yes! Oh by the way, thank you for trusting in me. I promise, I’ll find a way to prove it to you that I’m not here to hurt anyone.” Mark added, moving towards his bag to put his little travel toiletries away before zipping it back up. Jinyoung watched with a curious face, but kept his distance still.

“Jaebum says from your clothing you are some sort of soldier, a decorated one with how bright the colors are, perhaps you will be of some help in our training.” Jinyoung crossed his arms over his chest, looking behind him when Jackson came back into the room.

“How is it fair that you can go into any room you want, but we may never go into yours!” Jackson teased, offering a smile to show it before he picked up Mark’s dirty clothing. “Youngjae says food is ready.” 

“Because I am the leader, and you lot do not need to be in my space.” Jinyoung said with a straight face, something that made Mark giggle. He could tell that jokes and humor were often lost on Jinyoung. The way he looked so serious about it. Turning, he looked to Mark who was laughing, raising an eyebrow. “What is so funny? Am I not right?” He asked and Mark laughed a little more.

“He knows why he can’t go in your room, he was teasing you.” Mark said softly, offering a gentle smile to Jinyoung who scoffed.

“They are always teasing me, watch, one day when they need me I will be the one to tease finally.” Jinyoung huffed before he took his leave. Jackson gave Mark a look before he himself let out a laugh. It was as if he were holding it, daring not to laugh in front of Jinyoung.

“Not many people talk to him the way you do, this will be interesting.” Jackson nodded for Mark to follow him out of his room.

They walked through the grounds together. Jackson setting Mark’s soiled clothes in a room he could tell was for washing, the archaic style of it all made Mark think these guys really were stuck in the past. Nobody washed clothes like this anymore, he could have sworn even modern day monks were using washers by now. 

Jackson then lead Mark through a courtyard. Two boys were in the middle of a heated fight, their bodies moved so well it was almost as if they were dancing. The way they spun, ducked, and jumped to avoid the others strike. Everything in time, everything calculated perfectly. Mark was in awe watching, not noticing that he stopped until Jackson cleared his throat.

“Our training is not for outside eyes, please don’t watch them.” Jackson stated, and it felt more of a warning that he would be on Jinyoung’s bad side if he crossed any lines. Mark nodded, bowing his head in apology before he moved to keep up.

He didn’t know what he was expecting when it came to the food, maybe some type of mess hall style serving where this Youngjae guy slopped out half assed meals to whoever was in the training camp. But when he was let into a grand hall and saw it all set up for an intimate meal, he felt even more confused than he had before he arrived. Shortly after he took his seat, Jinyoung made his way inside, followed by the two he saw training moments ago. They were smiling and chatting amongst themselves, happily sitting themselves down around the table. Jinyoung took the seat at the head, next to Mark, who figured it was safest to sit on the end.

Apparently not.

Jinyoung gave him a look as Jaebum walked over, Mark assumed by the awkward exchange that he was sitting in Jaebums seat and was quick to get up. Jaebum put his hand on Mark’s shoulder, ushering him back down.

“It’s okay, you can sit next to our leader tonight. You’re his guest after all.” Jaebum said, and moved to sit across Jinyoung at the other end of the table. 

“A guest? Jinyoung doesn’t do guests.” A white haired boy said, looking over to Mark finally as if he had just now noticed he was even sitting there.

“I didn’t think we were taking new recruits.” The other sitting next to him said, leaning across the table to get a better look at Mark.

“We’re not. He’s a soldier I found passed out at the temple in town. He swears that he’s here to protect as we are, but that’s to be determined. He mentioned something about working in the healing field of his country, I figure if anything, he will be of use to us should we be injured at any time.” Jinyoung said, none of them argued it. Everyone just nodded to show they were listening before someone Mark assumed to be Youngjae walked in carrying a giant platter of food. He set it down on the table before rushing to get the rest. Mark looked down and felt his stomach groan, he hadn’t eaten anything all day and the gorgeous sight was more than he could handle. 

When the rest of the food was brought out and Youngjae had sat down with them, the boys shared in a prayer of thanks before diving in. Mark, out of respect, let them all grab food first before he even thought about reaching for any. Jinyoung seemed to have the same mannerism. The two reached for the same plate at the same time, fingers brushing against each other, causing Mark to let out a soft gasp. He quickly pulled his hands away and looked up at Jinyoung, almost scared he had angered him.

“Here. I can tell you’re waiting but you need to eat. Jackson is always late, he’s probably washing your clothes now. He often skips meals.” Jinyoung said, offering a kind smile as he transferred some of the food onto Mark’s dish. Mark watched in awe as Jinyoung served him before helping himself. 

“Thank you! You’re very kind.” Mark praised, smiling brightly before he moved to eat as Jinyoung had told him to do. He was so busy he didn’t see the slight blush on Jinyoung’s cheeks. Jaebum was the only one who seemed to notice, though he simply put his head down and pretended he didn’t. Jinyoung never shared moments with anyone, and Jaebum was the one that knew him best, so he felt it was better he pretended not to share in that stolen moment and frighten Jinyoung from allowing himself more.

The food, despite it’s rather choppy nature, was delicious. Not the generic foods you would find in every other shop, they had a real rich spice to them that Mark enjoyed. Simply because it wasn’t something you could get anywhere else. He didn’t know how long he would be staying, if anything he’d need to get somewhere and find his unit before he got in trouble for deserting his post. The door opened up and Jackson walked in, he looked scared. Rushing to Mark’s side he quickly dropped something in his lap, nervously backing away. Mark raised an eyebrow before he noticed that it was his phone. Confused for a moment, Mark picked it up and pushed the home button to see the time. Zero service, which was odd because even on base he had full bars.

“WHAT IS THAT?” One of the boys from earlier yelped, looking in awe at the glowing device in Mark’s hand.

“My… phone?” He asked, cocking his head to the side. 

Were these guys for real?

“A phone. What is a phone? Another American thing??” Jaebum got up, moving closer to look over Mark’s shoulder. Jinyoung quickly snatched it away, moving his fingers on the glass before he saw his own image pop up, having opened the front facing camera. Letting out his own yell, he threw the phone down, looking to Mark shocked.

“That phone! It has my image inside of it. What black magic is that, how am I trapped inside?” Jinyoung accused, not even daring to look at the thing. Mark sat there dumbfounded, the look on his face must have been unreadable because they all scooted closer to him waiting for him to answer them. 

“What year is it…” Mark mumbled, finally looking up from where his phone lay on the ground.

“That’s a silly question.” Jinyoung glared.

“What. Year. Is. It.” Mark demanded more forceful, looking directly at Jinyoung which seemed to be the more surprising thing to anyone around them, none seemed to make direct eye contact with Jinyoung. He heard a small gasp from Youngjae, and a warning look from the two across the table that what he was doing, wasn’t a good idea.

“It’s 1417, do you have amnesia?” Youngjae spoke up, cautiously. His voice low as if he were scared to speak when Jinyoung was asked the question.

“14….17.” Mark broke eye contact, looking over to Youngjae before he sunk back on his feet. He looked stunned, lost, and scared. 

“The more pressing issue is what is that device.” Jinyoung reminded, carefully picking it up as if it were poisoned and handed it over to Mark. Dropping the phone on the table next to him, Mark jumped at the sound of it hitting, quickly picking it up to make sure nothing was broken. 

“This is something we use in America. It is used to talk to each other.” He didn’t know what to say, or what to do. He’d watched enough movies and videos of people from the future, somehow getting stuck in the past and killing the future because they were talking too much about what was to come.

Luckily he knew jack shit about Korean history, so any war or battle he couldn’t really help them with.

“Please excuse me.” Mark said, carefully taking his phone and standing, he bowed his head gently before moving to quickly walk away from the room. Letting the door swing shut behind him before he started sprinted. He started to run, not sure where, but he needed air. 

1417, exactly 600 years in the past. America hadn’t even been discovered yet. That probably explains why none of them seemed to know what was going on when he spoke about his country. He… how though. How could he have gotten to where he was. The base, the bombs. Did he die? Was he blown up in the accident and this was now his second life, or the afterlife. It doesn’t explain why he came with everything he was wearing, unless it’s one of those you take what you have things. He started to feel fear, panic, still running as fast as he could through the temple and out back to a giant field. He noticed the small gardens, the vegetables growing, he saw some livestock milling about. Everything was so well kept together, as if this were their entire life sources here in this temple. Now almost everything they had been doing started to fall into place, started to make sense. He jumped over a tall fence and kept running until his feet hit the water. Looking down, he noticed the cold blue water lapping at his toes. The slight bit of sand among rocks feeling uncomfortable against his bare feet but he couldn’t care, not right now. He let out a loud cry, a scream coming from deep within his body, his body curled up from the force of the scream, hunching over towards the water, careful not to get his new clothes ruined in the water and risk further irritation to his hosts.

Soft sobs escaped his lips, his head hung as he let his fears and confusion of the past several hours take their toll on him. He didn’t hear footsteps behind him but when he felt the hand on his shoulder, he near jumped out of his skin. Quickly getting to his feet, Mark defended himself, it ended with him nearly tripping over and Jinyoung catching him quickly, their bodies hovered together. Mark looked up scared, eyes locked with Jinyoung’s own as he was set back upright on his feet.

“Your screaming can alert anyone to where we are.” Jinyoung commented, though there was no anger behind his words. Mark nodded carefully and put his phone in the little pocket the pants had.

“There is more that you’re not telling me. I gave you a chance to be honest with me, you betrayed that trust.” 

“If I told you, would you have been open minded enough to hear me out?”

“You never gave me a chance. Do you think me some savage monster? Those are the people I’m supposed to be fighting.”

“I thought when I came here that you lot were just some secret order, stuck in the past living as people of old did. But the year, all of this, it’s a lot for me to take in. I was standing where you found me when I tripped. I hit my head on a statue and fell into a little pile of broken temple. It.. was way into the future when my eyes closed. It’s.. i’m not sure how I got here. Please. Give me time to adjust to what is going on, then I promise I will be out of your hair, I will leave quietly and try to find a way back home.” Mark stated, keeping his eyes on Jinyoung so he could see the honesty. Jinyoung stood there quiet, watching him for a moment before he unfolded his arms and let them rest at his sides.

“That story is more believable than anything you’ve said to me so far, even though it’s clear that traveling through such time is impossible. If you really are lost, we’re an order sworn to protect. You will remain with us until you find who you are, and where you’re from. I can’t be by your side for… whatever amount of years you are displaced, but I’m sure you will find a home here where I can do my best to protect you for as long as I can, as we can...” Jinyoung was trying, Mark could tell. He didn’t believe him, but what other option did he have? As long as he no longer thought Mark was out to get them, that seemed to be the better alternative. 

“I don’t deserve your kindness.” Mark said without thinking, Jinyoung looked surprised. His body straightened up some before he moved to lean on a nearby boulder.

“You said that the temple was broken when you fell, why?”

“Of all the questions you could ask someone, you want to know about an old broken temple?” Mark licked over his lips, moving from the water to stand closer to Jinyoung. Jinyoung gave him a look that stated it was better he answer.

“It was under attack. I was stationed here, this temple here I guess at some point, is torn down because it becomes a military base for the United States. I had gone into town for a snack which I do every night, and to help myself sleep by clearing my head, enemy forces started to attack. I was trying to help a little boy who had been badly hurt when another attack happened. I fell back, hit my head...” Mark sighed, looking up at the sky. “I hope he’s okay.” 

“So even though we are here currently protecting this land, you mean to tell me that in your year, it’s under attack again.” Jinyoung sighed, pushing himself off the rock before he turned towards the temple. 

“Do I not produce an heir to keep fighting and protecting as I am now?” Jinyoung worried, arms going up to wrap around himself.

“Times have changed. People don’t fight with bows and fists anymore. It’s a lot more dangerous. Maybe your family is still living there? Who knows. I know I’ll probably never get back, but I can adjust to… life here.” Mark didn’t sound to sure of himself, but he was thankful that Jinyoung didn’t call out the waver in his voice. 

“That is a kind thought, but I doubt I’ll ever have a family.” Jinyoung sounded more serious, but there was a sadness to his voice. Mark paid the same respect and ignored it.

“My mother always pushed for me to have kids, but it wasn’t really… in the stars for me. I’m not set up that way.” Mark figured his phrasing would be lost on Jinyoung, but he didn’t need to share every detail of his life with a stranger. His own personal preferences wasn’t something he was open about, or even proud of, but it was who he was and perhaps this time jump would make it easier to ignore.

“Perhaps we are not so far apart.” Jinyoung smiled gently. “Come, future man, you should rest. Maybe with more food and sleep you will start to make sense of everything going on.” Jinyoung suggested, and Mark almost thought he was teasing. Though he knew in their short time knowing each other that Jinyoung wasn’t the type of person to tease or joke. Mark wasn’t sure he even knew how.

“I don’t want to be in Jackson’s way. If you lend me a blanket I can sleep just fine outside.” Mark didn’t want to be a bother, and his training had him somewhat capable of making a somewhat decent bed out of what he could find around him.

“We have a spare room you can sleep in. I left to set it up when you were changing. I meant to bring it up but you were naked when I returned, and I wasn’t expecting that. Again I’m sorry for not knocking” Jinyoung rubbed the back of his neck, almost as if he were nervous.

“I wasn’t! I wasn’t naked.” Mark blushed, his cheeks turning a bright red as he looked away embarrassed.

“Whatever you wish to tell yourself. I’ve seen so much of you it’s almost as if we were married.” Jinyoung let out a soft laugh, and again Mark wasn’t sure how to take that. He didn’t even know if they knew what that was.

Then again ancient Greece was a thing… so maybe.

“I appreciate that. If it’s okay with you, to help earn my stay here I would like to examine everyone tomorrow. Just general health checkups to see if they are doing well. Is that possible?” Mark asked, carefully jumping back over the gate from earlier.

Jinyoung jumped with ease, showing the same artistry as the boys who were training in the courtyard earlier. Mark looked to the floor before he saw Jinyoung adjust the headpiece he was wearing.

“I think that should be fine. Between their training, they can come to you.” Jinyoung agreed, moving with Mark through the gardens.

“You as well.” Mark stated, letting Jinyoung know it wasn’t an option.

“I don’t think that’s needed, I’m in perfect health.” Jinyoung stopped moving, giving Mark a stern look.

“I will be the judge of that. Come to me first… or last. If you don’t want anyone seeing your body. But you will come to me.” Mark again made clear, standing up to Jinyoung’s fierce glare.

“If I have the time.” Jinyoung in his own way agreed, and Mark would accept it. He nodded happily, moving to let Jinyoung lead him to the room they had set up for him. It wasn’t far from Jackson’s but much bigger. He had his own private area to wash up, the bed was already set up. Mark removed his shoes outside the sliding door before he took a step up onto the mats. 

“This is… are you sure this is all for me?” He asked, eyes taking in everything before he turned to look at Jinyoung.

“Of course. We don’t need such lavish livings, that’s not what our order is about. This room was storage for the longest time because none of us felt right living in such a way. You can use the large part for your medical needs, and this side room here will be perfect to sleep in. If you should need anything please let any one of us know so long as we’re not in training.” Jinyoung kept himself outside, peeking his head inside to ensure that it was set up how he wanted it to be.

He seemed happy with it, at least his version of happy.

Mark honestly couldn’t tell.

“I will have food brought to you, since you were unable to finish yours earlier. We must resume training.” Jinyoung bowed, taking his leave. Mark didn’t have an opportunity to get another word in.

“Thanks.” Mark said to the closed door, taking a deep breath before he moved to settle down. He saw that his bag had been brought over and was set next to the bed. Walking into the little room, Mark shut the shutter, wanting that little bit of extra privacy.

Kneeling down, Mark undid the zipper to the largest part of his bag, digging around for some of his things. His medical kit, his change of underwear, his journal. Setting them out next to the bed, he took his phone, checking the battery life before he turned it off to conserve it. He did have his solar charger, but he didn’t want to risk anything happening to it. Not that he had much use for it.

Who was he going to call?

All of his friends wouldn’t be born for another 600 years, and even then, it’s not like he would be around anymore to get in contact with them.

Sighing to himself, Mark looked up when a knock came to the wood outside his room. He called for whoever it was to let themselves in before he saw Youngjae and the other boy from earlier bow. They removed their shoes before brining in Mark’s washed clothes, and his food that Jinyoung had ordered. Kneeling down, they presented him with his things. Mark bowed in thanks, accepting them. He set his uniform to the side, seeing that even his shoes had been scrubbed clean.

“Mark, Jinyoung says that you are very lost. If there is anything we can do to help you, please let us know.” Youngjae said, the other boy nodded his head.

“We didn’t introduce ourselves properly, I’m Kim Yugyeom. The other boy by my side was Bambam. We take care of the scouting around here.” Yugyeom winced when Youngjae hit his side. Looking over at him confused as he rubbed his rib cage.

“Don’t give away what we do to other people that are not in the order.” Youngjae reprimanded. Yugyeom made a face like he was mocking the elder before he moved out of reach.

“If Jinyoung trusts him enough to let him stay here, then I can say whatever I want.” Yugyeom argued, Youngjae simply rolled his eyes at him. They both knew deep down that wasn’t true.

“I will be conducting physical exams tomorrow. I want to make sure you guys are okay and healthy. Please come see me when you’re not busy training. And I need to know of any prior injuries.” Mark said in a professional tone, taking out his notebook to write some stuff down. The two looked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow.

“Is that the American language?” Yugyeom asked, Mark’s head shot up. He turned the notebook to the boys, they studied it with an even more confused expression.

“This… is Korean. Well Hangul, your style of writing.” Mark said slowly, thinking he was just worse at writing it than he thought.

“This is not ours..” Youngjae said, taking the pen that Mark had. He studied it for a while trying to figure out how to use it before he got the hang of it, writing things down for Mark before he handed the book back over.

“This is not… this is.” Mark sighed, he had gone so far back the damn language wasn’t even formatted to be written yet. This would make everything ten times harder, even though what they provided was very similar to a mix of traditional Chinese lettering and modern day Hangul, and that he knew more of given his Taiwanese routes.

“Wait you said, 1417?” Mark moved to his bag, pulling out a small book he had been given prior to arriving in South Korea. It was a small book, almost sparknote like, on the history of the country. He flipped through it, head cocked to the side as he read several different pages. Searching for anything relevant to the year he was in. The country had such a rich history it was hard to narrow everything down to one book and cover everything. But for some reason 1417 stood out to him.

“The official written language of the Korea’s wasn’t officiated until the 1450’s by King Sejong the Great.” Mark read more to himself, the boys looked over at the book with wide eyes. Luckily for Mark, it was in English, making it easier for him to read. They looked at the foreign characters in awe before looking up at Mark.

“How do you know this! Wait.. the Korea’s? Is there not just one...” Yugyeom snatched the book, not that he could read anything in it, but he heard what Mark had said and if it were a book about their country, he wanted to know what it said.

“These pictures.” Youngjae was in awe, leaning in to look at the pages, he ran his fingertips over the glossy feel before he leaned in to look at the pages.

“Jinyoung was right, I’m a bit lost here.. But I will find my own. I already promised him that I won't be a bother for long.” Mark nodded his head, the two looked at each other before they handed the book over.

“Will you share this book with leader?” Yugyeom asked, Mark tucked it safely in his bag before he shrugged.

“If he wants to see it, though this language is going to be hard for you guys to speak. It’s not… well known yet.” Mark smirked, even though it was it just hadn’t reached these parts of the world yet.

Hell there was still one Korea, boy were they in for a rough few years.

“I think it will do him good to see this. Maybe there is something in there that can help us win, should any enemy come to attack. That kind of stuff is in there right? Like a war history of sorts?” Yugyeom smiled, hopeful as ever. Mark flipped through the pages to try and make heads or tails of just what kind of book it even was.

“I don’t think it mentions what war happened where, I know there are a fair few, still going on. But this area isn’t really known for that much bloodshed, it’s just a fishing city. But the water makes it easy to attack.” Mark thought out loud, not really talking to either one of them, but they both seemed to be listening closely to him.

“This is much needed information, I’m sure Jinyoung has thought about these things but I never figured someone could attack us from the water. We’re right on it too… does that put us in real danger?” Youngjae questioned, licking over his lips as he adjusted the way he was sitting.

“Like I said, I don’t think anything like that happens. But I’m not sure. Even so, you all seem like great fighters, I’m sure regardless of what happens you six will be fine. Also, I will try my best to help in any way that I can.” Mark smiled wide, hoping that any optimism would lighten the air. 

It seemed to be working.

“We better get to night training before Jinyoung strings us both up.” Youngjae reminded, carefully getting up and bowing his head. Yugyeom didn’t question, just bowed his head as well and got up from where he was sitting.

“Don’t forget to come to me at some point tomorrow, so I can check you both out. Make sure you’re healthy with a physical exam.” Mark peaked his head out of the room, the two nodded to show they heard him before moving to leave.

Mark let out a sigh, looking down at the food Youngjae had brought for him.

This would be an interesting night, that was for sure.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You are lucky this didn’t get infected, but from now on I want you to come to me any time you get cut!” Mark scolded. Reaching into his bag for a general disinfectant to clean up a small gash on Jackson’s chest, nothing major but it was easy these days for a cut to become more if it wasn’t treated correctly.

“All of us get cut against Jinyoung. You will be doing this all day, every day. He is the one that can beat all of us, but none of us can beat him.” He laughed, letting out a yelp when he felt the pad press against his wound. He looked at Mark as if he ripped his arm off without warning.

“What is that stuff! No healer makes people hurt like this.” Jackson’s tone was bratty, something that made Mark smirk. 

“Well if you want less of that, then try to be more careful.” Mark smirked, finishing what he was doing before he patched Jackson up with a cloth he had ripped up and managed to clean on his own. Jackson thanked him with a bow before he allowed Mark to finish the exam. Mark was happy to see that despite a series of cuts and bruises, they all seemed to be in great health.

“Everything is for the most part working well. Your knees are slow though, I think you need to start stretching better before you fight.” Mark recommended, letting Jackson put his clothes back on before he turned to face him. 

“You all are very strong, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be more careful if you get wounds. Everything needs to be cleaned well at the end of every day, with fresh water.” Mark felt like a parent trying to tell his kids how to play safe. 

“Has leader came to see you yet?” Jackson asked, Mark shook his head no. 

“It’s been two weeks and outside of meals I don’t see much of him.” Mark sighed, sitting down on a nearby chair once Jackson was set to go.

“He thinks he can’t be beat. Don’t let him get sick please. He works the longest, and sleeps the least. You keep telling me that sleep is most important, which now I am sleeping more I am understanding. He needs to be the same, so our leader will be strong in time of war when we need him the most.” Jackson worried, licking over his lips before he bowed, taking his leave. Mark sighed watching him go, turning to wash himself up and prepare for whoever wanted to come in and see him next.

This was how things went. He made it clear that anyone who wanted to be checked out, simply needed to come see him and he would tend to their wounds. When he wasn’t helping them out he would spend his time walking around the temple, seeing the sights, catching up on sleep, and helping in the garden.

It wasn’t much, but for now he was enjoying his break. He knew that eventually he would have to start trying to find a way back. 

Getting lost in organizing his belongings, he didn’t hear the door open, or the footsteps coming up behind him. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of someone clearing his throat did Mark startle, turning quickly to look at Jinyoung, who stood a few steps behind him. Looking away from him to glance out of the rooms window, he noticed it had gotten dark, how he got so lost in what he was doing was beyond him. Though this wouldn’t be the first. The whole concept of time was lost on him these days.

“You missed dinner, I thought something was wrong… That or you left us. I hope you’re not packing...” Jinyoung bowed his head when he saw Mark was okay. “I will leave you be.” He added, Mark moved quickly to grab Jinyoung’s arm, stopping him from going, noticing the way Jinyoung winced at his touch.

“You’re here, please. You still haven’t let me examine you.” Mark gestured towards the bed.

“That’s not needed.” Jinyoung tried to argue but Mark clearly wasn’t going to take no for an answer, not now that he had Jinyoung there.

Walking over to the sliding door, Mark shut it to give them privacy. Walking back over to Jinyoung, he handed him a pair of his boxers that he had normally stashed away in his bag. Looking a bit lost, Jinyoung looked to Mark like he was crazy before he sighed, giving in.

Mark was probably the only person that could get Jinyoung to do things he didn’t want to do.

He moved to the little changing area Mark had set up, where he washed up and removed his clothing, feeling so awkward and exposed as he slid the boxers on. They were a bit tight, his thighs, hips, and ass much bigger than Mark’s own. He filled everything out, the material hugging him perfectly as he walked out of the little barrier. Mark turned to see him, his heart skipping a beat at the near perfect sight before him. 

Jinyoung was toned in places you wouldn’t expect, his body strong and tight. He wasn’t built thick, he still had a slimness to him that Mark didn’t expect with how many layers he generally wore. He could see healed scars along his body, more serious ones on his back suggesting a rather nasty punishment had been inflicted on him at some point in time. Walking over to Jinyoung, Mark tried his best to put on a professional face before he grabbed his medical kit and ushered Jinyoung to kneel on the bed area. Jinyoung sighed, moving to do so. His eyes nervously looking around the room rather than at Mark, feeling that it was easier to not actually look at Mark while this was going on.

Since it was their first full examination, Mark took his time in looking over every inch of Jinyoung. He inspected every scar, every bruise, fingertips gently feeling around for lumps in worrisome areas, he listened to Jinyoung’s heart, he took his heart beat, he checked his eyes. Getting out a few things to help clean out several small wounds, Jinyoung didn’t even flinch as the others had when Mark started to administer the antiseptic, he just sat there looking off into the distance. It was amazing to Mark how even though he knew that it probably hurt, he could tell one of the cuts was starting to get infected, which meant he had to be more abrasive with it, Jinyoung just sat there with a stone face. He really was something else, but maybe it had to do with looking strong no matter who was around. Mark wasn’t one of his own, he wasn’t a soldier, but Jinyoung often treated him like a member of the order.

“I can tell you need more sleep.” Mark added, putting a few bandages on Jinyoung’s bicep where he had a few small cuts, no doubt slightly older injuries but still not healing as they should have been. “No more training for you tonight, I want you to go right to bed and sleep till breakfast.”

“Not possible.” Jinyoung laughed, moving carefully to stand from where he was kneeling. Mark got up with him, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m not asking you, or suggesting it, I’m telling you. You can’t be in perfect physical condition if you’re not in good mental condition, and the only way to heal is through eating and sleeping better.” Mark stood his ground, even if he wanted to flinch under Jinyoung’s harsh glare.

“I will go to bed soon, but only if you agree to eat before I do so. If I have to take better care of my health, than so do you. I don’t know what the world is like where you say you are from, but I assume sleeping and eating well is the same then as it is now.” Jinyoung offered, even if his face suggested his annoyance.

“Deal, but something small, it’s not good to eat a lot right before bed.” Mark compromised.

“Why is that?” Jinyoung stopped in his place, turning to look at Mark. The way he moved made nearly every muscle in his body flex and Mark was having a hard time remembering any language at this point. Nobody could deny that Jinyoung was stunning, but Mark felt more alarmed seeing his naked body because he knew, from what Jinyoung told him, that this was a sight almost nobody before him had ever seen.

“Uh well… if uh you, uhm.” Mark was mentally kicking himself for not being able to control himself. He turned to give Jinyoung privacy as he got dressed back into his formal clothing.

“Actually in my generation, it’s pretty back and forth whether or not eating right before bed is good for you, or isn’t. I don’t know who’s advice to trust.” Mark could only laugh, taking the boxers from Jinyoung once he was finished changing.

“Your times sound complicated.” Jinyoung let out a soft laugh, moving to take his clothes before he vanished back behind the divider to change. 

“Yeah, well, it is. But this time is no less complicated.” Mark laughed to himself, moving to clean everything up while Jinyoung changed.

“Can I ask you a more personal question?” Jinyoung asked emerging from the divider.

“Of course.” Mark smiled, turning to face Jinyoung.

“Back home, back in whatever time you said you’re from… Are you married?” Jinyoung moved towards the door as he spoke. Mark chewed at his lip lightly before he shook his head no.

“I can be if I want to. It’s finally legal for people like me to get married, but I haven’t found the right person. There were a few people that had caught my eye but, I’m here now. Why?” Mark moved to kneel down next to the bed, looking up as Jinyoung slid open the gate.

“I would have been worried if you left your wife, and your family behind. What they would have done if their father never came home, if her husband never came home.” Jinyoung looked to Mark finally. Noticing the way Mark shifted uncomfortably at his words. He studied the way he looked down at the ground, almost as if he were hiding something. Something he didn’t want Jinyoung to know.

“There is no wife, no kids. Never would have been probably. But I knew that one day I would have liked to be married, to settle down with someone I love. Things are harder in my time for people like me, not that they aren’t hard in this time too, but it’s still a fight for love.” Mark didn’t want to say what he really meant, but Jinyoung didn’t press the issue, he bowed his head and took his leave.

Youngjae brought the food shortly after, Mark wasn’t shocked that he didn’t see Jinyoung again. But he hoped that Jinyoung at least held up on his end of the agreement and went straight to bed.


	2. a different kind of love

“Where is Mark?”

“He went back to the old temple, he said something about trying to figure stuff out.”

“He will miss dinner. You all eat, don’t wait for us to return.”

Jinyoung grumbled to himself, looking over at the door to the temple grounds before he quickly moved to his room. He changed into something more suited for being out in public, annoyed that Mark would make him worry like this. He moved to the front gate, ignoring the looks Jaebum was giving him as he slipped through the front door. It would soon be dark, and Mark being out by himself had him nervous. The tensions in the air due to the threat of war had been growing the last few weeks, with no signs of a peace being reached any time soon. He had gotten word that enemy forces were spotted camping in the distant hills, but that their path of attack was unclear. He didn’t want a battle to emerge, nobody wanted a battle, but he needed to be on guard; more so now than ever.

Which meant he didn’t have time for this. 

Jinyoung moved through the city easily, the townsfolk never really paid attention to them anyway. They had made a home there for several years, and it was almost as if they didn’t want to admit that there was a threat to their city, or a chance of war. Ignoring was always easier than accepting it, even if they knew that one day they would be hit with the harsh realization. 

The path to the old temple was familiar for Jinyoung. He often found himself there praying in his darkest times of need, it’s what he was doing the day Mark arrived. He remembers the woman running to him, going on about a dead body laying near the statue. Jinyoung needed to help, that wasn’t her area. He was annoyed with her bothering his prayer, but it seemed that going to see what the fuss was helped change his life for the better.

Even if he wasn’t ready to admit it yet.

Jinyoung stopped along the way to grab food at one of the local shops, something simple that would be easy to carry. The woman wrapped everything for him, handing him over the neat package and thanked him for his business. Jinyoung bowed, paying her before he continued on his path for the temple. The sun was nearly gone, and Jinyoung feared more for Mark’s safety as time ticked by.  
Mark didn’t leave often, not for extended periods of time anyway, and never at night. Jinyoung tried not to worry but Mark was under his protection. He let himself into the temple, bowing to the priests that watched over the temple. They nodded in reply before carrying on. Jinyoung was no stranger so they didn’t treat him as such. They went about their business as Jinyoung moved through the temple, saying a quick prayer out of respect for the main temple first, before he let himself out back. It was getting darker, the path was not well lit but he figured Mark would be near the statue he had been found by.

Walking down the small stone steps, Jinyoung saw Mark kneeling by the statue, he was moving his hands around the base as if he were trying to find some sort of marking or button that would explain what happened to him. Jinyoung walked closer, making himself known early as to not scare Mark and risk him hitting himself again. Mark turned to see Jinyoung and got up, bowing his head politely.  
“Hey, what are you doing here?” He asked, curious as Jinyoung came closer to him. He looked almost guilty. 

“You scold me about the importance of keeping yourself healthy, but don’t follow your own advice.” Jinyoung sighed, holding up the food he had wrapped up for Mark. Looking at the bundle, Mark was hit with a wave of guilt. He hoped he didn’t keep everyone waiting for him.

“You brought me dinner? You didn’t have to do that for me. I’m sorry, I lost track of time. Did the others eat?” Mark sighed, taking the small bundle from him, carefully setting it down close by. Jinyoung sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You make me worry about you constantly, how am I supposed to be on guard protecting the city if I’m always having to stop what I’m doing to remind you to do something as simple as eating?” Jinyoung reprimanded, standing taller in hopes of proving his point. Mark sighed, sliding his hands in his pockets.

“I’m not a child Jinyoung, nobody asked you to take it upon yourself to take care of me.” Mark regretted it as soon as he spoke, sighing to himself as he turned and looked back at the statue. “I’m sorry. I know you’re only doing it because you care. I’m just trying to find a way to get back, or how to explain what happened to me so that I can be out of your hair.” Mark bent down to pick up the food.

“Why do you want to get back so badly? Are you not being taken care of here? Is there no prospect of you finding a wife and staying here?” Jinyoung asked, and Mark was almost taken back by his questions. Why Jinyoung would want him to stay was beyond him. He seemed to annoy Jinyoung more often than not.

“It’s not that simple. I wish it was, but… I don’t want to get in the way, should anything happen. I may be a soldier in my time but I know nothing of this era. I’m lost when it comes to fighting here, of how medicine is like in this time. What if I could go home and learn more, I could study more.” Mark looked down at the food, not sure where he was going with that. That would mean he would be coming back.

“Then what? Would you come back and better serve us? What if you can only go back once and you never return to us?” Jinyoung almost sounded worried, as if he didn’t want Mark to go. The affliction in his voice had Mark stunned, almost, it was the most genuine he’d ever seen Jinyoung be with someone since he arrived.

“I have no real ties or connections to my time. I have my parents, but that’s it. I joined the Military because I felt lost and I had already been training in Martial Arts since I was young. So I knew how to fight, but I also wanted to heal. There is so much war in my time, so much loss, if I wasn’t able to do anything, I could at least go and try to help.” Mark spoke softly, wanting to keep the tone soft, if Jinyoung was willing to show his vulnerable side, he could at least be respectful back.

“Then what do you say to training with us? I can help you be of more use, not just medical, so this way when the fight comes you know better how to aid us.” Jinyoung relaxed his position, uncrossing his arms some. Slowly letting his guard down around Mark. 

“I will consider it. Have you eaten yet?” Mark looked from the food to Jinyoung, watching him shake his head no.

“Then come.” Mark reached out to take Jinyoung’s hand, yanking him down a small path leading to a quiet sitting area. Their fingers laced together as Mark dragged him along. Jinyoung looked at their fingers in shock, unsure how to handle this sort of attention, or the way it was making him feel. Mark let go, kneeling down on one of the blankets set out to dry, carefully undoing the cloth binding together the food Jinyoung had brought for them.

“I must return.” Jinyoung tried, but couldn’t say no to Mark pulling him like this. He sighed, sitting down next to him, watching carefully as he separated the food to make it even for the both of them.

“How will we eat? I have asked for only one set of chopsticks.” Jinyoung looked nervous, pulling the set from his pocket to hand over to Mark.

“We will share it.” Mark said simply, taking a small bite before handing the pair, and the food over to Jinyoung. 

“Share… it.” Jinyoung looked at Mark like he was insane. His eyes trained on the chopsticks for a while before he carefully took it, eating from the other end of the dish as to not pick at the food Mark was eating at. “Is this common in your time? People sharing food together.” 

“Good friends do it.” Mark commented, taking the chopsticks back to keep eating. Jinyoung watched him carefully.

“Good friends, or married people? I feel this is something intimate you share with one special person.” Jinyoung added, but he took the chopsticks back from Mark and ate without question or hesitation.  
“Well married people do it all the time I’m sure. I had an ex lover, we shared food often. But I’ve also done it with my closest friends, before I left for the military.” Mark sat back some, thinking about those times, about the life he lived outside of these times. It felt weird, the longer he stayed the more he felt as if his life in 2017 was the one he was out of place in. 

Would he even be able to adjust going back? Or would he spend all his time worrying what happened to Jinyoung and the others... What if they died in battle because he wasn’t there to save them, or could he go study what happened and help prevent it?

He snapped to when he felt Jinyoung nudge his side, looking at him quickly before he was handed the chopsticks.

“An ex.. I’m not sure the meaning of this.” 

“Oh uhm. So in my time, you don’t get set up with someone to marry them… you go out and you meet someone. You decide that you want to get to know them. You see each other often, go out together, if things don’t work out then you can break up and go see other people. If things work out, then you guys will probably get married.” Mark shrugged, taking a few bites of the food before handing the rest to Jinyoung to finish. He didn’t want to eat as much, knowing that Jinyoung often ate the least and last every night.

“So you have had people that you have courted, never married though.. Surely this is a strange time. Why would you bother with anyone you don’t plan on getting married to?” Jinyoung shook his head, as if the idea was unfathomable. 

“Well when you first start to see the person you don’t really know if you will or won’t get married. You know that you care for them a lot, and you hope that you two can make it to getting married, but sometimes things don’t always work out. It’s better for you both then to break it off, because being married, at least to me, is a one and done deal. I only ever want to get married once, to the person I love the most in life.” Mark smiled, looking up at the sky for a few moments before he turned to Jinyoung.

“You didn’t answer my question, you’ve been with women before but you never married?” Jinyoung finished off the food, setting the container down on the ground.

“Oh uh no. I mean, well. It’s complicated.” Mark rubbed the back of his neck, licking over his lips lightly.

“Are you hiding more from me?” Jinyoung started to frown, and Mark shifted uncomfortably. 

“No. I’m not hiding anything. I just don’t know how to properly explain myself.” Mark started to tie up all the leftover bowls just as they had been presented to him, not wanting them to leave a mess in the temple. Jinyoung seemed content to hold onto the chopsticks though.

“Do you think I won’t understand, or I won’t accept what you have to say. I have believed almost everything else, even if it’s very crazy to think about. I am not so proud that I can’t be understanding of others.” Jinyoung seemed offended, which is what Mark was trying not to do.

“Give me a little more time, and I will be able to tell you. I’m not sure if you guys have a word for it, or if you have an understanding of it. I’m not sure if it’s allowed or not here, so I don’t want to say anything and it be a problem.” Mark admitted, looking down at the floor. Jinyoung watched him carefully for a moment before he turned to look the other way. Mark didn’t know what that meant, but Jinyoung was still there so it couldn’t have been bad.

“I will give you all the time that you need, if that means that you will be with us for more time.” Jinyoung admitted, keeping his eyes away from Mark. Almost as if he were scared to see Mark’s reaction.  
Mark honestly never knew how to react in these moments. When Jinyoung’s honesty was so forward, Mark felt ashamed to acknowledge it.

Was Jinyoung wanting Mark to stay for his own benefits, or did he really not want him to leave the group. Mark was nervous to think what the first would mean, given how beautiful Jinyoung could be, so he let himself believe it to be the latter of the two. Licking over his lips, he got to his feet, holding his hand out for Jinyoung to help him up. He didn’t get offended when Jinyoung denied his request for help, just held onto the food tighter and looked down at his feet as Jinyoung brushed his clothes off.

“I doubt I’m going to find a way home any time soon, maybe I was sent back for a reason and won't be allowed to return until I find that reason. At least that’s how it works in the movies.” Mark sighed, looking at the confused look in Jinyoung’s eyes at the reference.

“Movies?” Jinyoung questioned, cocking his head slightly in the most adorable way.

“Don’t worry about it. One day I’ll show you what those are.” Mark let out a soft giggle, moving to head back up the stairs with Jinyoung.

Mark went to go say something else when Jinyoung quickly pulled him to the side, covering them in the darkness by some thick bushes and tall trees. Mark was unsure of what was going on, though he had enough training to be quiet in a situation like this. He remained still, looking up at Jinyoung who seemed to be intently listening to their surroundings. After a moment he looked down at Mark and nodded his head in a backwards direction, Mark nodded, signaling he understood before he rolled over onto his belly and started to crawl away. Jinyoung watched amused, following behind as quietly as he could before he signaled for Mark to stop moving with the wave of his hand. 

Picking his head up off the ground, Mark listened carefully, it wasn’t until he heard a branch snap did he quickly point. Jinyoung must have heard it as well since he went right up into the tree without a second hesitation, also without making a sound. Mark remained still, carefully listening for footsteps before he heard the rustling of the bushes nearby. Mark looked up in the tree trying to find Jinyoung but it was as if he had vanished. Mark carefully got into a crouching position, careful not to make noise as the man drew closer. The dark night, and dark colors of his uniform helped shroud him from being seen as the man got within reach.

Within seconds, Mark sprung up and got the man flipped down into an arm bar, pressing his face into the dirt. He struggled against his weight as Jinyoung jumped down attacking a second body that was headed for Mark. Once the man Mark was holding went to sleep from the strangled pressure, Mark got up, looking around carefully for Jinyoung who seemed to have vanished again. He rushed over to where Jinyoung had been, checking the soldier who lay on the ground. No pulse. He was dead, how; Mark wasn’t sure. There were no stab wounds, or other obvious marks to show what happened. Mark closed the man’s eyes out of respect and turned to look, seeing Jinyoung hovering over the body Mark had subdued. 

“Is he alive?” He asked on hushed tones, Mark nodded his head yes. 

“Impressive.” Jinyoung commented before he bent over and struck the man in a way Mark had never seen before. His breathing soon stopped, body lifeless on the floor. Mark sighed and walked over to Jinyoung, bending down to feel a pulse. 

The man was dead. 

“Japanese soldiers, we have been finding them scouting around the temples and shore line. None have relevant information, but they have been showing up more frequently.” Jinyoung sighed, Mark searched the body for anything of use. He found several small daggers, some letters written in a text he couldn’t read, and food rations. Mark got up and slid the items into his bag, nodding to Jinyoung before he took another look around them. Jinyoung looked amused at Mark’s scavenging.

“Well they are clearly scouting, probably trying to find the easiest way inside the village. Just over that hill, that would be a growing city right?” Mark pointed and Jinyoung nodded. 

“Yes. Rumor has it our King is sick, he won't last much longer. The perfect time to try and invade the shore line I assume.” Jinyoung sighed, watching as Mark crouched down and opened his bag. Pulling out his book and his phone, Mark put the flashlight on and sat down flipping through several pages. Jinyoung looked over his shoulder in awe before he snatched the book up  
“Yugyeom told me of this. What is in here?” Jinyoung demanded, though his voice was still hushed incase more people were around. 

“It’s a history book.” Mark grabbed for it, making a face when Jinyoung tucked it into his shirt. 

“Put your thing away, someone will see us with that.” Jinyoung frowned, waiting for Mark to pocket the device before he started back for the main temple. Mark looked back at the bodies before he quickly followed after Jinyoung. 

“Shouldn’t we do something with the bodies?” Mark asked, keeping his eyes to the ground. Jinyoung made a noise as if he were thinking before he opened the gate for Mark.

“I’ll have someone do it.” He added, waiting for Mark to lace up his boots before heading back into town. 

“Your uniform takes too long to put on. Why do you still wear it?” Jinyoung questioned, annoyance dripping off his words even if his face remained indifferent. 

“Because I’m adjusted to wearing it. Like you’re used to all of this.” Mark explained, gesturing to Jinyoung before he slid his hands into his pockets.

“I guess. But it seems such a bother. Those on your feet, they are so bulky. We can hear you coming from a mile away. How does your world fight? Where is the element of surprise,” Jinyoung looked over, questioning eyes made Mark sigh. 

“Most everything is done on these.” He pulled his phone out, careful not to light up the screen and scare anyone that might be seeing them. 

“That is silly. How does that small box control anything?” Jinyoung laughed, a real laugh, which was the first time Mark ever heard him do so. Licking over his lips, Mark stopped them, moving Jinyoung off to the side of the building where they were alone before he pulled up a clip of his time before Korea, simple days. 

Pressing play, he held up the phone for Jinyoung to see, watching his eyes get wide in amusement.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

The ship was grand to say the least. A not so modest destroyer sailing along the north atlantic ocean off the coast of Maryland. A pride and joy of the Navy. Mark came into view quickly, smiling brightly as he walked through the narrow hallways of the ships inside, and out onto the ships deck which was bright and clear. There was a man close behind him, dressed in the same uniform, all smiles as well, wearing sunglasses that Mark promptly stole from him and put on his own face. Once out in the open a few lower ranked soldiers walking around nodded and greeted them, he nodded back before flipping the camera to front view so he was no longer in the shot.

“Get to test this bad boy out today.” Mark’s voice was heard, walking over to a group of soldiers working on a small computer near one of the large guns. 

“Don’t kill yourselves.” Mark teased, one of the soldiers looked up and gave him a wink. Mark’s giggle could be heard from behind the phone.

“You medical nerds and your worrying. Where did your boyfriend go? I thought he wanted to see this.” A soldier asked, the phone spun showing the bright open ocean, and more of the ship as Mark tried to find the person in question. 

“He was right behind me, must have gotten called by someone.” Mark said with a shrug before he turned back to show what the boys were doing.

Mark zoomed in as the soldier working punched in the coordinates to a blank spot on the map, making sure nobody was around it before he fired up the gun. The thing moved without anyone touching it, getting into position as Mark zoomed out to see it all. Once the thing was ready, the soldier hit the button and they all watched as it exploded, sending the rocket out to the designated area. Mark zoomed in on the targets location, watching it land in the water and explode, causing a giant burst of water to shoot up like a geyser out of the ocean. Everyone started to laugh, some people clapped, Mark let out a soft giggle before arms wrapped around him. The camera panned down to the hands but not the face, there was a kissing sound heard before he held the camera back up to the machine. 

“There's the boyfriend, you missed it!”

There was more talking, a few people rushing around as something seemed to be going on. Mark laughed a final time and spun to see who was talking to them. The video ended shortly after that.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Jinyoung watched in awe, his eyes wide at the images on the screen before he looked up at Mark once it was over. He looked like he had so much to say, so many thoughts running through his head. They were talking in so many languages, most of which he didn’t understand. He didn’t understand just what he was watching either, but everyone was dressed like Mark, which meant they were matching soldiers right? He took a step back, putting his hands to his neck to rub at it gently before he looked over to Mark, struggling to find the words.

“That’s how we fight. We just… blow each other up with those. From the sea, from the sky, from land. It’s… it’s what was happening here before I landed here?” Mark put his phone away, licking over his lips before he looked over to Jinyoung.

“Who is, who had their arms wrapped around you? Boyfriend, what is that word? They said boyfriend and then someone was holding you. Explain.” Jinyoung, out of everything he had just heard and saw, latched onto those two things. Mark groaned, taking a step back to lean against the wall.  
“That is a complicated thing that I told you I would talk to you about when I was ready, but they meant boyfriend when they spoke about the person who had their arms wrapped around me. Like a back hug.” Mark hoped that was explanation enough. Jinyoung chewed at his lower lip before he crossed his arms over his chest.  
“You and your hidden meanings. I feel as if you have more secrets than I do, and that’s saying something. I don’t want you to be scared to talk to me, but know that act is very intimate. People should not joke like that with you. Boyfriends.. Whatever that word means, does not give people the right to touch others as such. That is a personal… thing.” Jinyoung stated, stepping away from Mark almost as if he were personally offended at what he saw in the video.

Not the blowing up of things. No shock and awe there. 

No. 

Nothing to do with what they were doing, it had everything to do with the fact that Mark got a back hug, from his boyfriend. Which was acceptable, but he didn’t want to explain to Jinyoung who that was. Or what that meant.

More so because they broke up shortly after that, and Mark chose to take the job in South Korea to forget the relationship. Which in turn was how he wounded up in his current situation, stuck in the past still several months later.

Mark gave it a moment before he followed after Jinyoung, happy that for the time being he dropped the subject, but Mark knew it was only a matter of time before it got brought up again.  
He thought to himself of how to phrase things, he knew that Jinyoung and the boys were sworn to a life of serving nothing but their order, but Jinyoung often spoke of getting married. Finding a bride and having a family. Would he be okay knowing Mark liked men, that he would never want a bride or a family like Jinyoung did? He wasn’t sure how forbidden that type of love was in this region, in this part of time.

It wasn’t like it would stop Jinyoung from doing so. Even as beautiful as he was, Mark knew he was off limits.

He must have looked as worried as he felt, Jinyoung stopped them before they got inside to ask if he was okay, but Mark assured him that he was. Brushing it off quickly before he bowed to Jinyoung, and took his leave for the night. Jinyoung watched Mark vanish off to his room before he sighed, heading into the courtyard where the others were training.  
“Leader, did you find him?” Jackson walked over, using a rag to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

“I did, he was at the temple again in the same spot I found him. There were two Japanese spies in the woods, we managed to take them out together. He has some skills as a fighter.” Jinyoung commented, getting ready for his time to train.

“Spies? That makes six this month.” Jackson sighed, putting the rag around the back of his neck, holding on to the two ends as he watched Jaebum and Yugyeom fight each other.

“Can I ask you a personal question, you spend much time talking with Mark during the days right?” Jinyoung looked down at the floor before he looked up to Jackson. He ignored the strange look Jackson was giving him, putting on his most expressionless face to try and show that his question was just general, rather than eating away at him like it was.

“Ask away. I talk to him some, more than the others for sure. He doesn’t open up a lot.” Jackson bit his lip, nervous with the look Jinyoung had.

“Have you ever heard the word boyfriend? Do you know it’s meaning? Mark showed me a moving painting he has on his phone thing, they said the word in regards to him, and he received a hug from someone in an intimate manner shortly after. I want to ensure that he’s not stuck here, leaving behind a family.” Jinyoung turned to Jackson who had a rather shocked look on his face. Jinyoung looked around carefully, almost confused. “What?”

“Nothing no, I just have never seen you show you care like this before.” Jackson ducked, trying to get away from the punch he knew Jinyoung would throw. What he wasn’t expecting was to have his legs kicked out from under him, falling back to the ground with a thud, he let out a loud groan.

“I don’t have an answer for you, he has never mentioned it to me before. I can find out for you, or have one of the others do so. I don’t think we should dig up too much about who he is, what if that makes things hard for us? Are you not worried it might change our future to know.. The future.” Jackson groaned, sitting up some before he rubbed the back of his neck. Jinyoung made a quick strike with his hand, wounding Jackson’s chest. Jackson groaned, but knew not to yell. 

“You can start now.” He said, taking a few steps away to join the others. Jackson groaned, glaring off towards where Jinyoung was before he got himself up. Clutching his chest, he limped away towards Mark’s room.

“What was that about?” Jaebum asked, looking at Jackson walking away before he looked to Jinyoung.

“Get back to practice.” Jinyoung ordered, watching Jackson vanish towards Mark’s room before he went to his training.

Opening the sliding door once he heard a knock, Mark was half expecting to see Jinyoung standing there again. When he saw Jackson with a fresh wound on himself, he raised an eyebrow, turning to let him into the room. Jackson grumbled to himself as he started to undress, leaving his pants on before he moved to lay back on the little bed they had made up for exams like this. Mark got down on his knees, carefully cleaning Jackson up. He noticed the way the wound was perfectly placed, he didn’t doubt that Jinyoung did it. 

“So want to tell me what got him so bothered tonight?” Jackson frowned, looking up to Mark.

“I don’t know. We had dinner together, then walked home.” Mark commented, keeping his eyes focused on what he was doing.

“He is bothered by things. What you said to him weighs heavy on his mind. Do you think you can teach me, some of your language. He was saying words I didn’t understand.” Jackson looked up at Mark, used to the sting of whatever he used to fix their wounds.

“I can if you want, during your free time. Where would you like to start?” Mark put the bandages over the wound before he helped Jackson sit up. 

“Boyfriend. What is the meaning?” Jackson tried to look as if he wasn’t interested, but Mark just rolled his eyes and sat by his side.

“How about we start with saying Hello and Goodbye.” Mark teased, smirking.

“You know that I will be back with more wounds if that’s what I bring back to him.” Jackson groaned, not even wanting to think about it. 

“I told him that when the time was right I would tell him what it meant. I will teach you a phrase however that you can bring back to him.” Mark moved to grab a piece of paper, writing in both English, and Hangul. Jackson took the paper and looked at it confused, blinking a few times before Mark said the sentence to him in his native language. Jackson wrote it down for him as he said it, trying to make sense of what each character was.

“Patience comes to those who wait.” Mark broke it up by language.

“Patience comes to those who wait.” Jackson repeated, Mark nodded his head helping him with the annunciation for a while before Jackson started to be able to say it properly.

“You learn fast. If you really do want to learn, come to me when you’re free and I will teach you. Eventually you can learn what boyfriend means.” Mark wrote the word down, boyfriend, in english at the bottom of the paper before he got up to clean himself off. Jackson sighed, knowing that he would get hit again once he walked out there with the papers.

“Tell Jinyoung I said to go to bed.” Mark added, hearing Jackson grumble something before he heard the sound of the shade closing.

Mark felt bad in the morning for Jackson’s bruised cheek.

That didn’t stop him from giggling when Jinyoung sat there pouting the whole time.

Good things would come, so long as he waited.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Just as Mark had predicted a new king rose to power in a few short months, and Mark wasn’t sure what surprised him more. The fact that he had become so comfortable where he was and hadn’t noticed how much time had passed, or that Jinyoung hadn’t again brought up the word Boyfriend.

Or rather Jackson stopped bringing it up, and Jinyoung seemed to get more and more moody. 

There was a steady rhythm to his life now. He would have breakfast with everyone in the morning, go out for a walk around the town while the boys worked on their training, come back in the afternoon to see if they were all still alive, treat anyone that needed it before they all sat down for dinner, they would go back to training, and he would find things to do in the temple. It was like an extended vacation that didn’t get boring.

This afternoon, Mark was down by the water. Youngjae had asked for help picking out food from the local market, and Mark could never say no to him. The two of them walked side by side, Youngjae was happy holding the bags they would transport the food back in, poking and sniffing at everything he saw. It wasn’t the first time Mark had gone with Youngjae, he liked to be there and see all the people interacting. The sights and the sounds, hearing people negotiate for good deals. He learned a lot about the people in the area, some even started to know his name and face, though he continued to remain a mystery to most.

“What do you want us to cook tonight?” Youngjae asked, turning to look at Mark who seemed lost in thought.

“What about goldongban?” Mark had to learn the new names for things. 

Bibimbap wasn’t a thing yet.

“It’s not really the season for that? Do you eat it all the time in your world?” Youngjae started to grab some vegetables, paying for them before adding them to one of the bags.

“Yeah but we call it something different now, you can get it at almost every restaurant whenever you want.” Mark smiled, looking up at one of the boys who was laying fresh fish out. Mark bowed his head.  
“Wah! So rich you all are. This used to be only for Kings. Now we get it but only sometimes.” Youngjae was amazed, something Mark found endearing.

“Mark! I didn’t expect to see you today.” A boy bowed, smiling brightly towards Mark. Mark could only smile more, looking at him with fond eyes. He noticed Youngjae and bowed his head. Youngjae pretended to ignore the way the boy seemed to be trying to fix his hair and clean himself up, as if he were trying to impress Mark. That would be silly. 

“Eunwoo, did you work hard last night catching these?” Mark asked, Eunwoo nodded again.

“Of course. I knew you would be by soon so I wanted to ensure I got the best just for you.” He said and Mark had to look away, a faint blush coming to his cheeks. Youngjae watched their interaction, raising an eyebrow before he moved to look the fish over. 

“These are impressive.” He commented, and Eunwoo seemed to have a hard time taking his eyes off Mark long enough to notice he was being spoken to.

“Goldongban doesn’t normally have fish in it.” Youngjae looked back down at the fish, checking a few of them out.

“Tongyeong-bibimbap does! Also Hoedeopbap, which is the same but with raw fish.” Mark smiled wide, ignoring the confused looks from both Eunwoo and Youngjae. 

“You say such silly things sometimes.” Eunwoo let out a soft laugh, looking back as his friend brought more fish over to be put out.

“Even fresher. But go with these, I caught them myself.” Eunwoo chewed at his lower lip, looking at Mark with a look that was all too familiar. Youngjae had seen someone else look at Mark that way, and that meant this wasn’t good news, for anyone involved.

“We will go with these then. Thank you.” Youngjae cut in before Mark could. Picking out several fish before Eunwoo left to bag them up. Mark turned to Youngjae with a happy face, smiling softly at him. Youngjae smirked to himself, not sure what to make of this interaction.

He knew Jinyoung would be angry had he been there to witness it. He was so protective of Mark. Never really letting strangers near him.

But that was for Mark’s safety right?

“Here you guys go!” Eunwoo handed the fish over, Mark handed him the money in exchange. When he got the change back he thanked him and pocketed the rest. 

Youngjae started to walk away, Mark by his side before he heard his name being called. Stopping in place, both of them turned to see Eunwoo leaving the stand to rush over to the both of them. He looked nervously down at the floor before his eyes darted back up to Mark.

“Hey I was wondering, if you might possibly want to go for a walk with me later in the evening. There is a very beautiful place on top of the hill, you can see the sunset perfectly on the water, and I remember you telling me how much you enjoy watching it. If you are busy we can do it another day.” Eunwoo was blushing, and Mark had to wonder if he knew what he was doing and openly flirting, or had honest intentions. Either way, Mark found him to be gorgeous, and watching the sunset with a beautiful boy wouldn’t be the worst way to spend his evening.

“Mark typically remains with us for the evenings, in case any soldier is wounded during training.” Youngjae spoke up again and Mark gave him a look. “Jinyoung will…”

“After I eat tonight, I will meet you at the edge of town, you can take me to your hill.” Mark said, not giving Youngjae a chance to try and scare him with what Jinyoung would think about him leaving for a night. 

Why would Jinyoung even care?

Outside of their meals, their checkups, and occasionally visiting the temple to eat together, Jinyoung had very little to do with him. He wasn’t blind to how possessive Jinyoung got if he saw the other boys smiling with him for long periods of time, or getting too close during their meals; but he always figured it had something to do with their rule of not being distracted during training. 

Even if he had told Jinyoung he liked men, he knew none of the other boys did or were even thinking of him in that way, he still treated them as if they were just soldiers that he quickly became attached to. Not so much protectors, as they were friends.

Eunwoo seemed happy with this, he smiled brightly, about to say something else when one of the other workers called him back over. He turned his head before apologizing for having to leave.  
“I’m sorry! But I’ll see you tonight.” Eunwoo bowed and rushed off, Mark watched him with fond eyes before he bit at his lower lip, trying to hide his giant smile. Youngjae worried, looking between the two before he pulled Mark to gather the rest of what they needed, not saying a word on the subject.

They bought what they needed to get, enjoyed a little snack together, and then made their way back to the temple. Walking towards the training center, Mark noticed Yugyeom sitting out with his hand over his face, Bambam worrying about him before he noticed Mark and ran over.

“I thought he would go left, but he went right and I struck him in the eye.” Bambam was in a panic, reaching up to grab Mark before he pulled him over towards Yugyeom. Youngjae held the groceries close as he watched the two run off.

“His smile is bright today, I take it the market was enjoyable for you both?” Jinyoung said, Youngjae nearly jumping out of his skin not noticing he had come up to his side. He stuttered several times before looking away. Jinyoung's face was intimidating when it wanted to be.

“It was, but I’m worried.” Youngjae chewed at his lower lip.

“Tell me your worries, I’m in a helping mood.” Jinyoung smiled slightly, moving to take some of the bags, helping Youngjae head back towards the kitchen.

“The boy in town, Eunwoo, the one who runs the fish stands with his mother and brother. Do you know of him?” Youngjae asked, looking to Jinyoung occasionally to make sure he was still there.  
He had a habit of just vanishing.

“I’ve talked with him once or twice, when I went with you to get food when we first got here. He seems like a decent person.” Jinyoung shrugged, not knowing much of him.

“When we went to get food today he and Mark seemed familiar with each other. They smiled so brightly at each other… I’ve never seen Mark smile so much. Nor Eunwoo. He commented on how he caught fish last night just in hopes that Mark would be there to buy them. Only the best for Mark.” Youngjae laughed at that, a silly notion.

“Oh? The best for Mark or the best for us?” Jinyoung gripped the food tighter, unsure why he felt a tightness in his chest and a sudden heat to his skin.

Jealousy wasn’t really a thing yet.

“The best for Mark. We bought several fish and went to leave but he stopped us. He asked Mark out to the lovers spot tonight. Said he wanted to show him the sunset. Hyung… do you think he has those kind of intentions with Mark? Is that something that can happen between two men?” Youngjae was so innocent, setting the food down on the table before he turned to Jinyoung with a worried look on his face.

“I… uh…” Jinyoung stammered, setting the food down as well. A heated blush came to his cheeks, and neck. He knew he’d had un-pure thoughts towards men before, but that’s why he was in the situation he was in. To prevent himself from acting, from further disappointing his family name, and to learn to fix it.

But could Mark..

“I have heard stories of it. There were some in my old village, rumor has it. Men that lived together as friends but had a deep love for each other. Nobody ever spoke of it in detail. But our Mark is not in this way, his going will send the wrong message to Eunwoo. He said no, correct?” Jinyoung tried to hide his emotions, doing his best to remain stone-faced and indifferent towards it.

“No. I said no for him thinking it would be simple, I know what that location is often used for and didn’t want Mark to be put in that position. But he went against me and said yes. They plan to meet after dinner and go together.” Youngjae leaned against the table, watching Jinyoung. It was the first time he ever saw a slight glimpse of strangled emotion about him.

“I will talk to him, tell him it’s not safe for him there. Young men often take women up there to seduce them, I know Mark is strong but what if he is not strong enough.” Both shivered at the thought. Jinyoung trying to shake this ugly feeling settling in his chest. He didn’t know what was wrong, or why he was feeling this way, but the thought of them going up there struck a nerve with him.

“He seemed set to go, and you know how Mark gets when he makes up his mind. Don’t upset him, maybe… they both...?” Youngjae looked down and sighed. He didn’t have a problem with it, but he wasn’t used to the thought of it.

“Don’t. Just don’t. Not our Mark.” Jinyoung stated, quickly taking his leave.

He wanted to go to Mark and scold him on going, but he knew he was tending to Yugyeom. He walked back down to the training area, grabbing one of the practice sticks and started to furiously attack the wooden training apparatus. He worked with such a force, that soon after he began, he shattered not only the stick, but the entire wooden tower. The object snapped in half, top piece falling to the floor with a loud crash. Everyone halted what they were doing, turning to face their leader. Jinyoung took deep breaths, eyes lost in a fog as he looked at the sight he had made. Everyone around him still stunned, looking with wide eyes at what happened. 

“Hyung are you okay?” Yugyeom ran over, carefully taking the broken stick from Jinyoung’s hand before he inspected it for wounds. There were several small cuts where the wood had shattered, and splintered out, but other than that he was fine.

“Mark went to lay down, but you need to go see him now.” Yugyeom pulled Jinyoung from the wreck, groaning as he was shoved back hard. Bambam caught him thankfully, looking to Jinyoung confused.  
“Hyung go to Mark and get healed.” He encouraged, looking to Yugyeom to make sure he wasn’t hurt further.

“Get back to training.” Jinyoung yelled, so loud everyone jumped. They all did as they were told, no hesitation. Jinyoung hadn’t looked this angry in quite some time, and none of them wanted to further agitate their leader even if none of them knew why he was mad. 

Jinyoung took his leave, rushing away from the training area and through the temple until he got to where Mark’s room was. He wanted to break it down, he wanted to rip it open, he took a few moments to calm his breathing and try to clear his mind before he reached up and knocked a few times. 

“Come in.” a sleepy voice said, Jinyoung frowned. Yugyeom did say Mark was going to sleep.

Sliding the door open, Jinyoung removed his shoes and stepped in, he saw Mark climbing out of the bed area. His hair was disheveled, his clothing removed down to those boxers, he had a soft glow to his skin. Jinyoung found his eyes lingering before he forced himself to look down at the floor. Mark quickly pulled his clothes back on, a private matter that Jinyoung needed to respect. 

“What happened?” Mark walked over, tucking his shirt into his pants. He noticed the blood dripping from Jinyoung's hand and sighed. “You never come to me for these, what happened?”

“Faulty testing equipment.” Jinyoung stated, letting Mark guide him to sit down near his exam area. Jinyoung’s top layer was removed to give Mark easier access to his wounds.

“Hold still please.” Mark carefully got the wood out of Jinyoung’s forearm, being as gentle as he could. He was thankful his kit came with a decent pair of tweezers. 

Once everything was out, he took the time to clean it all up. Making sure that there was no chance of infection before he bandaged everything up. Mark’s fingers made quick work along Jinyoung’s skin, careful to dance around the small cuts. He pinned the bandage with it’s hooks before he looked up to Jinyoung with a worried look about his face. 

“I will be okay.” Jinyoung assured, feeling bad that Mark looked so worried. He almost forgot the reason he came in the first place.

“After dinner tonight I was wondering if you would be interested in getting some training. I know we spoke about it weeks ago.” Jinyoung offered, it took Mark by surprise since he had been so closed off about their training even after all this time.

“I would have loved to say yes, however I have something I need to do in town. Tomorrow night though, we can.” Mark smiled wide, thinking about his plans later. His eyes wandered to the window, he couldn’t help but bite his lip as he remembered just how happy Eunwoo got when he agreed to meet him, how could he let him down? Plus it had been forever since he’d allowed himself to flirt. 600 years is enough time to get over an ex boyfriend right?

“Then I will join you to ensure you are safe, the nights are dangerous.” Jinyoung stated, carefully getting up. Mark rose with him, shaking his head no.

“This isn’t needed. I can handle this on my own, plus I won't be alone.” Mark assured, smiling up at Jinyoung, hoping he would get the idea that Mark was an adult, and wanted to do this without watchful eyes.

“I understand that, however you’re in my care. I will go with you.” Jinyoung kept at it, heading for the door and opening it. Mark sighed, chewing his lip. He knew better than to argue with Jinyoung when he made up his mind about something, but Mark wouldn’t be caught dead with a babysitter, even though it was olden times and that was proper when you went on a date with someone.  
Was this even a date?

Mark didn’t reply. He just watched Jinyoung shut the door behind him before his footsteps could be heard leading down the hall. The sounds of his wooden shoes clanking against the stone pathway outside. Mark waited for the sounds to be gone before he moved to slump back down against his bed, groaning at the thought of Jinyoung shadowing over him as he spent time with Eunwoo.  
If there was one person that could chase away any prospects of romance, it would be Jinyoung.

The bell for dinner rang a few hours later. Mark dressed in the spare set of clothes he had in his room. They were similar to how everyone dressed, though Mark still never seemed to tie it correctly. He spent some time trying to fix his hair, knowing it was almost useless with no hair products, but he tried. It had gotten so long he didn’t know what to do with it. When he was happy with the way he looked, he made his way down to the main hall. All the others were waiting for him around the table ready to eat. Bowing his head he moved to sit down next to Jinyoung like he always did.

“You look nice tonight.” Jackson smiled, noting the way Mark seemed to have taken care of his appearance. If he had known the cause, he never would have opened his mouth.

“Do I not look nice every night?” Mark teased, jumping when Jinyoung hit the table. He acted as if he had just bumped into it. Mark ignored him and helped himself to the food, watching as Jinyoung took his shortly after. He had waited for Mark before he started to eat, which made him feel bad seeing as everyone else was already halfway through their dinner.

“You do when you’re not in that strange uniform.” Bambam laughed, sitting back once he was done with his dinner. Jinyoung got up when Youngjae asked him to help carry some things back to the kitchen area that were too heavy to manage on his own.

“That’s not very nice of you to say.” Mark teased right back, eating quickly before he looked out of the nearby window. There was still a small bit of light, but the sun was starting to set. He finished his meal and got up from where he was sitting. He noticed that Jinyoung was still gone, it was the perfect time for him to leave.

“Don’t get hurt until I get back. I will see you all in the morning.” Mark bowed, quickly moving to head out of the temple while he still could. The boys looked at each other confused as the door shut behind Mark.  
“Where is he?” Jinyoung asked when he returned, looking around confused.

“He said he will see us in the morning.” Bambam said, putting together all the empty plates to help take back to the kitchen.

“The morning??” Jinyoung glared at the door. There was no way Mark would be out with another male that late… even if it was just two men hanging out. That was intimate, he needed to be back at the temple and safe.

Without a moment's hesitation, Jinyoung moved quickly for the door. Mark had seemingly vanished. Jinyoung grumbled to himself, looking over at Youngjae who was walking out of the building.  
“Where did they say they were meeting?” Jinyoung demanded, Youngjae fumbled, blurting out the location before Jinyoung ran out of the temple. Wincing at the sight, Youngjae silently prayed that Mark forgave him for telling Jinyoung, he didn’t know Jinyoung would try to go.

Mark wasn’t overly familiar with every inch of the village, but luckily for Eunwoo, he picked one of the spots that Mark had been to several times before. He got there with ease, looking around for Eunwoo. He spotted him, all cleaned up and looking as nervous as Mark felt. Giving him a small wave, Mark walked over, bowing his head hello before he moved to stand by his side.

“I’m pleased you made it okay. I’m excited to take you. My brothers often take friends there, I know it has a reputation but I’m a very big fan of beautiful sunsets, even more so when you can share them with beautiful people..” Eunwoo realized what he said, his cheeks turning a bright red before he bowed. Body bent in half. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it like that… not that you aren’t but I know that...” Eunwoo winced, half curling up on himself for being unable to talk. 

“It’s okay, I understand. I enjoy beautiful sights with beautiful people.” He commented, making it clear that he wasn’t going to run or judge Eunwoo for his words. That seemed to relieve the other boy, he smiled brightly and nodded for Mark to follow him.

The path they walked was narrow. It was a simple dirt road, human created, in the side of a decently high mountain. Probably a path farmers used to take their animals up for grazing. The two walked shoulder to shoulder, their pace slow. They talked about simple things. The weather, the fishing, the new buildings being built. The rise of the new king. Things that Mark could understand, knowing that he couldn’t just give away who he really was to someone he didn’t know that well yet. It was easy for him to stay quiet. When Eunwoo got on a topic of something he liked, he tended to ramble on. It was both adorable, and enjoyable. The less Mark had to say, the better. 

“I hope you don’t think me forward in bringing you here. You are one of the few kind faces I’ve seen around here. I felt I could bring you here, and it wouldn’t be treated badly.” Eunwoo said, looking down at the ground. Mark felt both proud, and saddened by this.

“I don’t think this ever gets easier, with time at least. Things seem to take forever in getting better, or they get better and then something makes it worse, so you have to start all over again.” Mark looked as they got to the clearing at the top of the mountain. He gasped gently at the sight. The sea seemed to go on forever with no end in sight. The sky was a gorgeous mix of orange, pale pink, and violet, that spanned up to an almost sapphire blue. There were no obstructions, no smog distorting the colors, just pure sky and sea. He had never really stopped to enjoy that since he had gotten there. He’d been so busy at the temple that stopping to see sights such as this didn’t cross his mind.

“They say older generations had it easy. That things like this were more easily accepted than they are now. Older ways were more open to love, to who people loved. My grandfather often spoke to me about how it wasn’t uncommon for people to love many, of all kinds.” Eunwoo sighed as he laid out a small blanket he had brought and knelt down on it. Mark joined, sitting close by him as they watched the sun start to sink towards the endless ocean. The further up Mark looked, the more stars he could see in the sky. He remembered looking up at the sky in the same city in 2017, only the stars he was seeing then were not as bright and vibrant as they were right now.

“That’s backwards to how things are where I am from.” Mark sighed, moving to lay down on his back. “Hopefully history will repeat itself though and in the future things will start to get better if the right people make the change.”

“I want my children to grow up in a world where they shouldn’t be nervous. It’s so hard to tell too. It’s like you would rather keep your life hidden, marry with no real love, or be proud and risk people knowing for fear of what people will think. Don’t get me wrong, I love my God, but am I not created the way I am because of him?” Eunwoo laid down next to Mark, letting out a sigh. Mark looked over and offered him a kind smile.

“You are. Don’t let anyone tell you that you aren’t.” Mark smiled more, looking back up at the stars. Eunwoo returned the smile, watching Mark for a moment longer before he too looked up at the sky. Their hands close, skin brushing against skin as neither one of them had the courage to move just a little.

Perhaps this was enough for now.

“Mark. When did you know, how you were…” Eunwoo finally said, though he kept his eyes on the sky.

“Young. It wasn’t hard to come to grips with it, where I’m from it’s not so uncommon or hated. My parents were an amazing support system for me.” Mark sighed, sitting up some to adjust his back.

“I wish that’s where I was from. This life isn’t a life I wanted to live. Fishing, working, it’s just because it’s what my family does.” Eunwoo sat up as well, getting more comfortable. His body leaned slightly against Mark’s own.

“You should be thankful for what you have, both of you.” A voice came from behind them making them both jump. Mark turned quickly to see Jinyoung standing there with his arms crossed, glaring at Mark as if he had done something wrong.

“I am thankful for it.” Eunwoo quickly got to his feet and bowed his head, intimidated by Jinyoung’s vicious look. Everyone in the village knew who commanded the order, and who was the top fighter among them. Everyone knew to leave Jinyoung alone.

“Then why do you complain about your life?” Jinyoung questioned, watching as Mark got to his feet.

“Enough. You have no right to talk to him this way.” Mark defended, showing no signs of fear with Jinyoung. Eunwoo looked up at him, pulling on his shirt as if he wanted him to stop. To not anger Jinyoung.

“I have no right? He’s taken you to a spot where young men seduce young women, his perversion is a thing of the past. He can’t force that on anyone, you are not familiar with this world and it’s ways, but he’s trying...”

“To take me on a date. To hold my hand. To kiss me. Yes. I know what he’s doing.” Mark glared, his eyes narrowing.

“How..” Jinyoung took a step back, looking to Eunwoo as if he were a dead man.

“You think I came out tonight because I just wanted to see the sun? That I made it clear I could go alone because I just wanted a guys night out?” Mark’s hands balled into fists, getting angrier the less Jinyoung seemed to understand.

“You can’t be okay with this, with the ways of old. Multiple wives and husbands, a non monogamous lifestyle. Men with both men and women, it’s not…”  
“Natural? Yes it is. It’s been going on since before the records of man, and is still going strong where I’m from.” Mark looked Jinyoung directly in the eyes. Jinyoung huffed, his eyes narrowing into an anger Mark had never seen before, but he knew that he had to hold his ground.

“IT’S NOT NATURAL. He is already infecting your mind.” Jinyoung yelled, both Mark and Eunwoo jumped back at the power in his voice. Mark tried to remain strong but seeing Jinyoung act like this was upsetting. He knew that things were distorted, and that it seemed the younger generations had more of an issue with homosexuality than the older ones did, but he didn’t expect that from Jinyoung.  
Or maybe he did, and that’s why he never said anything. 

“Jinyoung, I think you should go back to the temple.” Mark’s voice shook, it was clear that he was getting upset despite trying so hard not to. Jinyoung noticed, saw the glossy look in Mark’s eyes, and the way his lip was trembling. He couldn’t control it though, his entire body felt on fire, a rage he had never felt before seeing both Eunwoo and Mark close like that. Together like that. It wasn’t okay to him.  
“I will leave when you come with me, you are finished here.” Jinyoung added, further upsetting Mark.

Mark hung his head, trying to prevent Jinyoung from seeing the tear run down his cheek. Jinyoung could be beautiful when he wanted, but this was not one of those times. Eunwoo reached out to gently touch the back of Mark’s arm, letting him know he was still there before Mark looked back at him.

“I owe you a better night, and I promise you before I go home I’ll give you one. Be patient, I promise it gets better.” Mark said, Eunwoo looked to Jinyoung before he looked to Mark and nodded his head.  
“I trust you.” Eunwoo said, bending down to fold up the blanket before he bowed to the both of them. 

He took his leave, not saying another word but Mark could tell he was upset. He watched him for a moment before he turned to Jinyoung.

“Boyfriends.” Mark stated, Jinyoung narrowed his eyes. 

“When you are in a relationship, when you love someone, and you want to see if eventually you will marry that person and spend the rest of your life with them, they become your significant other. A girlfriend if you are dating a girl, and a boyfriend if you are dating a boy.” Mark glared, not even caring now if Jinyoung saw his tears.

“That means you… were…”

“I am, a man who is attracted to other men, in my time we call that being Gay. I was on a military ship with my boyfriend, but we broke up due to him cheating on me with another man. I came to Korea to get away from the heartbreak of losing someone I loved who betrayed my trust.”

“Gay…” Jinyoung said the word a few times before he looked away, not wanting to keep eye contact with Mark. “Is this lifestyle accepted in the future, where you are from? Is it okay?”

“For a long time it wasn’t. People like me were tortured and killed through the ages for loving who they loved. Men loving men, women loving women. But where I’m from, I’m allowed to love how I want, I’m allowed to marry any man that I want and it’s legal.” Mark said, moving a hand up to wipe at his eyes. Jinyoung finally looked at him, features softening at the sight of Mark crying.

This was something he never wanted to do.

“The problem started with us… and took until you to be okay.” Jinyoung said softly, moving a few steps closer to Mark. He tried to reach out for him but Mark pulled back, looking up to meet Jinyoung’s eyes.

“Only two kinds of people hate people like me. Those who don’t understand that love is love and it’s okay for anyone to love whom they want to. Or people that feel the same as I do, and are too scared to admit it to themselves.” Mark stated, through his tears, he remained firm in his stance though.

“Your heart was broken, that is why you came to Korea. You were betrayed because you loved a man, how can you be sure it will not happen if you date another man. Why not be with a woman and be happy.” Jinyoung tried, Mark could tell from the way his face was moving that he was trying. But that didn’t make his ignorance okay.

“Because I’m not sexually attracted to women. I don’t… my body doesn’t work the way it should around women, only men. I’m physically unable to make love to a woman, it does nothing for me, I know, I’ve tried.” 

“And you’ve tried with a man..”

“Yes.”

“But when you were with the woman, you felt...?”

“Nothing. Nothing but a burning urge for it to be over.” Mark looked away, not feeling ashamed but he didn’t want to watch Jinyoung judging him.

“How will you marry if you have already been touched by others?” Jinyoung sighed, looking off at the horizon. The darkness blended the ocean in with the stars. The reflection of them sparkling in the sky flickered on the calm waters, almost making the sky look as if it were lapping at the sand.

“Nobody cares about that in 2017.” Mark sighed, wrapping his arms around himself to negate the chill he was now feeling. Jinyoung looked over and saw him, removing his top layer and wrapping it around Mark to try and keep him warm.

“Two thousand… and seventeen? You’re… 600 years lost in time?” Jinyoung was shocked. He knew that Mark was from another time but that was, further than he expected.

“I am.” Mark sniffled, letting Jinyoung bundle him up in his clothes. He looked up to see Jinyoung, sure that nobody had seen him so informal before. At least not outside of his exam room. 

“It’s time for sleep, come. Tomorrow when you are calm we can work on fixing this. I worked to fix myself, you can too.” Jinyoung encouraged, nodding in the direction Eunwoo had left.

“I’m not ready to go back, and there is no fix. You are born to love who you love. It’s unavoidable.” Mark sighed, moving to sit back down in the grass. Jinyoung frowned, his heart weighing heavy in his chest. He had gotten so mad, so angry, and in doing so pushed Mark to tears.

He stood there, silently. His eyes focused on the sea at the bottom of the mountain. He was trying to process Mark’s words, not only to understand but maybe find a reason for why he was acting the way that he was. He felt a rush of emotions flooding through him, becoming scared, angry, and happy all at once. He closed his eyes, needing to take a deep breath before he allowed himself to get too lost in his head. Eventually he knelt down next to Mark, keeping quiet as Mark was doing. He noticed that Mark was still crying, silently tears fell down his cheeks. Jinyoung reached up to wipe one away, frowning some when Mark turned to look at him.

“I’m sorry I reacted as I did. I need you to know that you’re important to me, and I’m only trying to keep you safe.” Jinyoung frowned, rubbing Mark’s cheek with his hand before he let it fall into his own lap. 

“I know. It’s different in this time.” Mark licked over his lips, looking down at the ground for a few moments before he finally met eyes with Jinyoung. “But that doesn’t make your behaviour okay.”

Jinyoung let out a sigh, not used to being scolded. He was typically on the other end of something like this, and for some reason since it was coming from Mark, it made him feel even worse. He shifted, looking away from Mark, suddenly uncomfortable.

“Can you forgive me?” Jinyoung finally spoke, his voice a whisper.

“In time.”


	3. Awakening

Things went as they had been over the next few months. Jinyoung remained cautious around Mark but he was back to his typical self. Quiet, reserved, coming down harder on everyone as the threat of war grew in the north. He wanted to ensure everyone was ready to fight, this included Mark, who had officially started his training. 

Mark trained with them in the evenings after dinner. It was surprisingly similar to basic training but at an antique level. In lieu of guns and technology, he had to learn to be more aware of his surroundings. He learned to listen better, be lighter on his feet. It was actually near impossible in his military uniform. He had to wear the clothes provided for him more often, though he never wanted to lose sight of who he was, and where he came from.

Regardless of his position as the medic, Jinyoung didn’t go easy on him. He pushed him harder if anything since he had the least amount of training. Luckily he did manage to surprise them a few times with the martial arts he knew. The flipping, the ground takedowns. He had weapon skills thanks to his training, and knew where all the pressure points were thanks to his medical training. 

This morning Mark decided to take a walk after breakfast. He excused himself from the table to get changed. Grabbing his bag, a small thing of water, and a few snacks. Mark put his uniform back on, wanting to feel more like himself today, and walked out of the temple. He ignored Jinyoung asking him where he was going, annoyed he would have to explain himself even if he knew it was a typical thing for Jinyoung to do to everyone. Instead, he shut the door behind him and made his way down into the city. He made several of his usual stops. Mostly homes in town to check on people that had heard he was a doctor, and asked him to take a look at things. He wanted to make sure they were all doing okay, healing properly, and not in any further need of medical attention. Most of them were without money which was why Mark agreed to see them. They couldn’t go to the town doctor for healing, and instead gifted him food in return for help that he would then give to Youngjae to do as he wanted with. 

Today seemed peaceful. Mark walked through the market, looking at all the trades for sale before he felt a tap on his shoulder. Spinning around he saw Eunwoo, looking rather tall and handsome. He had a bright smile on his face, holding out a dessert he had been eating.

“You can have the rest.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows. Mark happily took it, finishing the last few bites of the small cake. 

“You look dressed up, what’s the occasion?” Mark asked, nodding for Eunwoo to follow as he kept walking around.

“I went to see a good friend of mine a few cities north over the weekend, about maybe working on his farm over the next few months. With all the talk of war I wanted to get my brother and I to a safe place. I was wondering if maybe you’d be leaving as well, and if not … I mean you can come with me, I’m sure he won't mind.” Eunwoo chewed his lip, hoping he wasn’t being too forward.

“Not scared of Jinyoung?” Mark raised an eyebrow, looking around to make sure he wasn’t being followed.

“Well yes, actually super scared of him… But I am hoping that with you getting out more now, that means he’s left you alone.” Eunwoo remained ever hopeful and it was adorable to Mark.

“There was talk of us going to the village over. The order goes where the king sends them.” Mark shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets.

“But you’re not in the order, so you don’t… have to go with them, right?” He asked, leaning in to bump shoulders with Mark. 

“True. But I have been with them for some time now, they have been very kind to me. They let me stay for free. I wouldn’t go anywhere else without at least talking to them now. But we already know what Jinyoung will say on the subject.” Mark chewed his lip.

“Depends on the subject. Don’t be so quick to assume.” Jinyoung’s voice came from behind them, Mark turned around to see him, confused as to why he and Jaebum were all dressed up and in town, also where they even came from, since Mark had just checked if they were behind him.

“Youngjae sent us on an errand, we saw you and figured we would come make sure you were okay.” Jaebum stated, bowing his head. Mark nodded before he looked to Eunwoo.

“What is the subject you need my say on?” Jinyoung asked, glaring at Eunwoo as if he were someone Jinyoung couldn’t trust.

“I’m leaving for a few months to go work on a farm up north. I asked Mark if he would join me there, spend time with me and help out.” Eunwoo tried not to look scared, but he could hardly keep eye contact with Jinyoung without looking at Jaebum or Mark for assurance.

“How will you protect him against war? How will you provide for him with food and shelter? Do you think you can care for him as we do?” Jinyoung’s eyebrows rose, Eunwoo looked at the ground, his smile gone. Mark glared at Jinyoung.

“I may not be a good fighter, I’m not rich, or able to provide him with much… but I have one thing that you do not, and that’s the ability to care for him as he wants to be cared for, something you can never do.” Eunwoo looked up finally, though it was obvious he didn’t know what to expect going head to head with Jinyoung.

“How can you care for him more than we do?” Jaebum scoffed, shaking his head some as he crossed his arms over his chest. “We love him as if he is our brother, none can keep him as safe and cared for as we can.”

“Jinyoung knows what I mean.” Eunwoo stated, looking to Jaebum before he moved to hide behind Mark. He didn’t want to pick a fight with either of them but he didn’t want Jinyoung to keep preventing Mark from giving him a chance.

“I thought you left that in the past. I haven’t minded you coming by the temple to visit him, or cared that he’s gone out to see you a few times in the morning, but trying to take him from us not only during a time of war but for the reasons you are… I won’t let it happen.” Jinyoung took a few steps closer, getting in Eunwoo’s personal space. The boy whimpered, happy that Mark was still somewhat separating the two of them.

“I warned you to leave this subject alone Jinyoung.” Mark glared, looking at Jinyoung with an angry fire in his eyes.

There it was again. That burning fire in his chest. Anger, rage, other emotions he didn’t know what to make of. He felt his hands ball into fists. Jaebum noticed, reaching out to put his hands on Jinyoung’s shoulders to hopefully calm him down. He hadn’t seen Jinyoung like this before.

Ever.

“We have orders, and are leaving the village shortly. You will do well to enjoy your time with Mark now, but he has already agreed to go with us. If we return, and you are here as well, then you can see him again, but he will be coming with us. He’s needed for not only medical help, but since he has begun training, he will need to complete it and fight by our side.” Jinyoung stated, voice so calm it sent shivers down Mark’s back.

He knew he wasn’t calm, that’s what made it so scary.

“He can’t join the order! If he does we can never..” Eunwoo looked to Mark with a shocked look on his face.

“Never what?” Mark questioned, looking at the three men.

“This order… this ancient power they serve. Part of it is they have to swear a vow of lifelong abstinence. They are the elite order, never to be distracted from their mission by a connection to anyone or any thing. They will know only war, but never love.” Eunwoo’s voice was filled with sadness, Jaebum and Jinyoung looked at each other before they turned to Mark.

“Wait what, really? You guys never brought that up to me. I can’t.. live a life like that. I’ve known human touch, I want to get married someday.” Mark worried, rubbing the back of his neck gently. 

Everything in regards to training was going well up until now.

“It will be better for you to join and live as we do. It can help heal you.” Jinyoung looked as if he really had good intentions, but he didn’t know how wrong he was about that. Mark just sighed, putting his hand on his chest to push him back away from him.

“I appreciate that, but I can’t live a life like that. I will help you guys to patch you up as you need, and I will go with you where you need me to go. But eventually… should I be stuck here, I will like the option to make my own life as I see fit. Regardless of if you approve or not, it would make me happy.” Mark made clear, Jaebum looked confused, looking between the two.

“What does this mean? What life? Do you want to get married and settle down, I thought you were trying to go home to America.” Jaebum shifted the weight of the bag he was carrying, looking from Jinyoung to Mark. 

“He wants to settle down in an unconventional way. He has an appetite for… similar kinds.” Jinyoung said softly, not wanting anyone around them to hear. Jaebum nodded his head as he started to understand the circumstances, looking down at the ground as to not draw attention their way, knowing how people got on such matters.

“My grandfather spoke of people like that, I’ve never met one though. He said it was very common among his father’s generation.” Jaebum too kept his voice hushed. Both Mark and Eunwoo felt embarrassed by their conversation.

“You act as if we are sick people. Clearly people like us have been around forever, it’s a natural thing.” Eunwoo tried to defend, looking at Jinyoung, then to Mark for support.  
“You are not sick, just misguided. Something like this, the lifestyle of the order, could benefit you both.” He stated.

“I will not accept that offer, I will find someone to love one day. I understand Mark not joining me this time, but I will work hard every day to be able to provide the life he should have.” Eunwoo bowed his head, looking to them all before he left. Mark watched him go with sad eyes before he turned back to Jinyoung and Jaebum.

“Every time you run into us you make things worse. What have I told you about bringing this subject up?” Mark asked, cocking his head to the side. Jinyoung frowned, pointing to himself and then to Jaebum as if he were trying to understand just who Mark was addressing in that manner. 

“I am only ever trying to help you, and improve your quality of life. I wish you to find someone that will keep you here, but that can keep you safe. He is the son of a fisherman with no title to his name, no training, nothing. You would be the first taken should war break out, and then where will you be? Trapped in this time, and off the path to go home to your stupid precious time. Leaving us as if we meant nothing to you.” Jinyoung glared, offended Mark was still getting mad at him over this. 

“Your helping, is doing more damage. Stay out of it! Don’t come near me when I’m with him, he’s scared of you. Also, don’t EVER question my care and love for you all, I wouldn’t have given up the search to go home if I didn’t want to be around you guys. Keep up this bullshit, and I will start finding a way back tomorrow.” Mark groaned, wanting to be polite but it was getting harder and harder.   
“I am here to keep you safe, to protect you. I can’t do that if strange men plan to take you away for a life of torture and pain. That is not an easy path in this year, you will be unhappy your whole life!” Jinyoung defended, not wanting Mark to misunderstand him.

“But we’re not together are we? We are not boyfriends Jinyoung. The love of a friend, is not the same as the love of a boyfriend, and in my life, that’s what I want in the end. You don’t get to decide what does and does not make me happy.” Mark ran his fingers through his hair, pushing his fringe out of his face. Jinyoung narrowed his eyebrows, getting more and more upset as Mark spoke.   
“Boyfriend? This word keeps coming up. What does it mean?” Jaebum looked to Jinyoung for help.

“It is when you find the love of a woman, who you want to marry… But not a… girl. A Boy.” Jinyoung’s voice was so quiet, so hushed. Jaebum chewed his lower lip and looked to Mark to make sure Jinyoung understood that correctly.

“Yes. That is what I want at the end of the day, which is why I’m making it clear now that I won’t and can’t officially join your order. I can’t make that vow, that pledge. I want love in my life.” Mark felt almost bad for them learning that they had to give all love up for this cause. They would never know love, or happiness the way that they should. Who would pick a life like that, was beyond him.

“We know love, family; we don’t need intimacy with another to lead a happy healthy life. We serve our king, our country, and the people around us. That is all the joy one needs in life. I thought like you when I was younger, it was all I wanted. But then… I came here. I met Jinyoung who showed me the benefits to living such a simple life. You said so yourself, in your time you joined the military to escape love, so you must have taken some sort of pledge to your country similar to ours?” Jaebum moved closer, happy there weren’t that many people out while they spoke about something like this. 

“I came to South Korea to escape a heartbreak, I was already in the military. I understand that for some people it works, and for some it’s a life they want to lead or can find joy in leading. But I’ve known love, I’ve know tender touches… I don’t want to know a life without them. Not forever anyway.” Mark made clear, giving them both a warning about continuing the topic before he bowed his head. 

“We will take your things back to the temple. Please be back for dinner. Youngjae is working hard on your dinner tonight… South Korea?” Jaebum bowed his head.

“Wait what, why? Long story.” Mark looked at them both confused.

“The date. It has been a year today since we found you.” Jinyoung stated, thinking it was obvious.

“Has it really been a full year already?” Mark was shocked, his concept of time seemingly vanished now that he lived with a total lack of calendars and clocks. They had concepts of time, but he was still having a hard time understanding how it worked. He was only just getting down the written language.

“It has! He wants to make you all of your favorite foods, it’s what he sent us into town for.” Jinyoung smiled, holding up several bags they had gathered of things for the evening.

“I won’t let him down. I have a few more people to see in town, then I will come back. Thank Youngjae for working hard for me.” Mark smiled brightly. Despite their somewhat awkward moments regarding his sexuality, he knew the boys loved and cared for him.

That generally was all he needed to be okay with his current situation. 

“Of course.” Jinyoung and Jaebum bowed, taking Mark’s things before they left. Mark looked around carefully before he left to finish up in town, seeing the few people he needed to, and making a special stop at the temple to pray.

Funny how before all of this he really was never one to talk to God, he didn’t really have a faith. It was even listed in his official documents as non-religious, but here, maybe because of the times, he found it brought him some peace of mind. Maybe because it was some of the only quiet he found.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Back at the temple, the table was set with more food than Mark could have imagined. All the different kinds of Kim-Chi, the different rice dishes, all the different porks and meats. He didn’t know why they were making such a big deal about him being there for a year, but he appreciated the warm feeling surrounding the table. He loved and appreciated everything they had done for him.

Sitting down next to Jinyoung as he generally did, Mark felt a bit emotional. These 6 guys seemed to care more about him than most people in his life. Despite the issues regarding Jinyoung, and his avoidance towards Mark’s sexuality, he still made Mark feel like family. At the end of the day they were all Mark had in the world, they could have made things hard for him but instead, they choose to love him as one of their own.

“Thank you all. From the bottom of my heart. This has been a very crazy year for me. I am looking forward to celebrating with you all as often as we can, while I’m still here.” Mark rubbed at his eyes, trying to keep his emotions in check. When he felt a hand on his back, he looked up, seeing Jackson rubbing his shoulders. 

“We appreciate all you do for us. We have been meaning to talk to you about something…” Jackson bit his lip, looking down at the floor before he shifted to better look at Mark. 

“We, as an order, understand why you don’t want to join. Though we aren’t understanding how all of that works, it doesn’t change how much you mean to us. We were wondering…” Jackson stammered.

“If you would officially stop the search to get back to the future, and stay with us forever.” Yugyeom finally said, tired of waiting for Jackson to just blurt it out already. 

Mark’s jaw dropped, not exactly expecting that from them. He shifted slightly, looking from Jackson to Yugyeom, then around at the others. He didn’t actually know what to make of that. He wasn’t actively looking daily for a way back to the future, but he wasn’t planning on staying in the past forever. Maybe it was one of those things where he needed to sort something out and save some people before he would be allowed home. He had no idea how this all worked. Either way, he didn’t know how to feel about people wanting him to stick around.

“I’m here for a reason, I know that in my heart. So I will be with you guys for however long you need me to be here. I miss my time, I miss my family, but you all have given me an amazing family. I promise to stop trying to find a way back home, but I can’t promise you that I’ll never go back. I don’t know how this works, or what I did to get here… so I can’t say that I wont do something one day and be sent back home for it. I will try to stay though, if I’m allowed.” Mark thought that was the best answer, because he didn’t promise anyone that he would stay since he really didn’t know if he could. It had been a full year, and there were no signs of him leaving any time soon, so maybe it would work out for him.

“That’s a decent enough answer, are you guys happy?” Jinyoung looked at the boys, smirking as they all nodded their heads yes and started to dig into the food. Mark could only laugh, serving Jinyoung his food before he got his own. Jinyoung stuttered, looking a bit shocked, before he bowed his head in thanks.

“Don’t act like this was all our doing, you put the idea up first.” Bambam called him out, ducking as Jinyoung chucked a glass at his head. 

“Eat up, all of you. Since it’s my day off I demand you all take a break from training tonight, and we go swimming down at the beach.” Mark smiled wide, looking at how excited the boys were before they turned to Jinyoung.

“Leader may we? Just this one night?” Bambam asked, putting his hands together as if he were praying.

“I’m only saying yes because this is Mark’s day, and he’s agreeing to stay with us. Any other occasion, no, so make the most of it.” Jinyoung stated, waving off their excitement to start eating his food. Mark smirked, knowing that Jinyoung was slightly excited about it but he understood the persona he was putting on. 

They ate in silence as they generally would, it seemed to be some sort of rule that they didn’t talk while eating. Regardless of how much extra food Youngjae had made, they seemed to finish it all. Mark rubbed his content stomach before he got up and stretched. It was his turn to help Youngjae with the clean up, but since it was his big day, Jinyoung took over for him. Thanking him with a bow, Mark made his way back to his room with the others to get changed into their swimming clothes. 

Mark wasn’t actually sure what they wore to go swimming. He knew what he would wear to train, but these were different times.

It was dark out, and lucky for them the night was as hot as the day had been. Mark pulled on a pair of his boxers, and just the shirt that went under his uniform jacket. He figured that would be enough given how warm it was outside. He was about to head out when he heard a knock at the shutter, yelling for whoever it was to come in, Mark finished cleaning up before he stepped into the main area.

“We are all…. Ready.” Jinyoung watched Mark carefully, looking over his body before he quickly turned away. Mark raised an eyebrow, watching him as he started to undo the top layer of his clothes and quickly took it off.

“Jinyoung…” Mark questioned, taking a step closer before Jinyoung held his clothes out for Mark to take.

“I will not let the others see this much exposed skin from you. Please put this on.” Jinyoung stated, it wasn’t a request, it was a demand. Mark frowned, looking at it before he carefully slid himself into it, looking at all the ties with a confused glare before Jinyoung started to help him out.

One day he would understand the need for all the ties. That or he would invent the zipper early.

“A year and you still don’t know how this works?” Jinyoung raised an eyebrow, making quick work of the shirt, happy that it hung down below Mark’s knees, and down to his elbows; covering enough skin for Jinyoung to feel comfortable.

Not that he was uncomfortable seeing Mark’s skin, he wasn’t. At least not anymore. He was uncomfortable with others seeing it.

“I don’t wear these outside of you giving them to me.” Mark teased, bowing in thanks to Jinyoung once he was finished, before he gave himself a look over. “How can you swim in this?”

“It’s very easy. Plus the water is probably a little cold, this will help keep you warm.” Jinyoung smiled, and Mark didn’t want to correct him since Jinyoung hardly ever smiled.

“Lead the way then.” Mark gestured to the door, following behind Jinyoung.

Although the boys had swam before, it was more so training to deal with an attack by the water. Learning how to make almost no sound among the water, using the waves for cover, other various things Mark wasn’t allowed to watch. He and Jinyoung made their way down the property towards the same beach Mark had melted down on the first day that he arrived. 

Carefully walking up to the water, Mark realized that the water was a little cold, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. He watched the others carefully dip down into the water before he joined them, diving under one of the waves right away and swimming a bit further out under the water before he surfaced. The boys looked confused, looking around for Mark before Jinyoung spotted him in the distance.

“Don’t go that far, it’s dangerous!!” He yelled, carefully walking into the water up to his hips.

“The military unit I’m in is all water. It’s the one with all the ships, and the underwater ships, and we do a lot of sea work and sea rescue. So I had to do a lot of this kind of swimming during training.” Mark smiled, laying out on his back, letting the waves lift him up and down. The rest of the boys watched him before trying it out, never having seen anyone do that before. Yugyeom and Jaebum got the hang of it right away, Jackson thought he was drowning and proceeded to flail around while Bambam was content to just swim about. 

Mark swam over to Jackson and helped him out, treading in the water as he showed Jackson how to relax his body and stay floating. His hands running along Jackson’s chest and back to help support him. When he was finally up and floating easily, Mark pulled away, watching him stay steady before he smiled brightly. Jinyoung swam up to him and took Mark by the wrist, pulling him a bit aways from the boys. 

“You’re not allowed to touch them like that.” Jinyoung scolded, Mark rolled his eyes before he pulled his hand back.

“I do it every exam to make sure they aren’t sick. I’ve done it to you countless times. Why are you bothered now? Because you know I favor men?” Mark crossed his arms, eyes locked with Jinyoung like he was ready to fight.

“No! No I know you… favor men but that’s not... I don’t want them to enjoy the feeling of your fingertips on their body… it could, uhm be seen as breaking their vows if they...” Jinyoung started to blush, looking down at the water lapping at his hips. “It’s not allowed for them.”

“They won’t get excited because I’m helping them swim better, you’re getting nervous for nothing. Come on, it’s my party, you need to relax a little.” Mark encouraged, taking Jinyoung’s hands, leading him further into the water. Jinyoung watched confused, looking down at their fingers before he pulled his hands away. Mark didn’t question it, just rolled his eyes again and dove under a wave before he started to swim out more. Jinyoung huffed, following to ensure Mark was safe in deeper waters.

“Jaebum Hyung… Do you think Jinyoung Hyung is ever going to realize…” Bambam started but Jaebum was quick to silence the rest of the question.

“He will deal with that on his own time, we can’t get in the way. He needs to come to that realization on his own.” Jaebum stated, sighing before he looked to the others.

“He is hurting himself, and Mark Hyung. We wouldn’t ever need to tell anyone… would we? Like if he broke his vows.” Yugyeom looked at how far out Mark and Jinyoung were, watching how protective Jinyoung was even at a distance in dangerous elements. He put Mark before himself, always.

“I would never tell a soul, I’m vowed to him more than to the order at this point.” Jaebum said, watching how Jinyoung and Mark playfully fought in the water, the smile on both their faces something he wanted to protect more than anything.

“Same.” The rest said in unison. 

“He will understand in his own time, we just have to hope that Mark’s still here by the time he figures it out.” Jackson sighed.

“That’s why we asked him to stay! If he stays they have a better chance. Right?” Yugyeom asked, looking back to the boys.

“Right.” Youngjae nodded before he went back to swimming around.

Jaebum looked back out at the distance, at Mark and Jinyoung now swimming around lazily in deeper waters. He trusted them, and believed in Jinyoung. He knew his recent fits of rage were the cause of something he didn’t understand, but he hoped that Mark being around longer would help.

————————————————————————————————————————————

“Where are we going?” Mark looked up, sleepy and confused. Jinyoung had burst into his room raving about needing to pack. Mark hadn’t had to hustle in over a year so he felt a bit rusty at it. He quickly sprung to his feet, doing his best to pull on his utilities as quickly as possible.

“We are going north. There has been movement and the king is calling for a battle, we have our orders to slow it down or stop it all together.” Jinyoung sounded calm despite the panic rushing around them. He could hear everyone getting their things ready, their bags packed.

Once his uniform was on, he worked on packing up all of his things, getting all his medical supplies tucked away and safe for transport. Jinyoung left the room without another word to check on everyone else. The 7 of them would have to leave on horseback before the sun came up to make it in time. 

Mark knew this day would come, but he didn’t think it would be so soon. Less than two years in his new life and he was going to war.

Once he was all packed and dressed, Mark put on his cover and made his way outside with his bag, and a makeshift ditty bag. He swung it over his shoulder, rushing through the lively temple to the back area where the stables were. He quickly loaded up his horse with the bags, watching as Jinyoung and the others fussed with making sure they would have everything they needed.  
“Where are we heading? Will we be in another temple?” Bambam asked, Jinyoung just waved him away.

“We will stay at them if need be, we go where we are ordered to.” Jinyoung rolled his eyes, a new habit he learned from Mark probably. The amount of times Mark rolled his eyes at Jinyoung was probably too much to count at this point, so it was only a matter of time before he picked it up himself. 

“Everyone ready?” Jaebum yelled, jumping up onto his horse, looking at the numbers to see if everyone was there.

“Where is Mark?” Jinyoung circled on his horse to get a better view, peeking his head around everyone until he saw Mark towards the back. He gave him a nod, happy to see him. Jinyoung looked almost scared as if he didn’t think Mark would come with them. “Up by me.” Jinyoung yelled, waiting for Mark to bring his horse closer before he lead the seven of them out of the temple. The few workers there closed the gates behind them, knowing to keep the doors locked until the order returned. 

Mark was tired, there was no denying that he had gotten used to not being woken up in the middle of the night in a rush. He had to keep shaking his head to stay alert as the horse powered on below him. In the distance he could see the sun starting to come up on the horizon. The world around him, being brought to light slowly, as they powered through the rolling hills. Mark hadn’t really gotten a chance to see much of Korea when he arrived. He spent most of his time moving from base to base until he got to his final destination, and even then, he didn’t spend the time between the trips to really look around. 

As they raced through the terrane, he noticed the gorgeous sea of colors that made up the world around them. It was like a painting had come to life, the hints of vibrant purple, mixed with such vivid greens. The sky above them twisted shades of purple, pink, and blue creating an almost surreal filter on everything. Mark did his best to keep the horse on track, riding by Jinyoung's side as the day finally began. They showed no signs of stopping any time soon, Mark wondered if the horses would be okay, going for such a long period of time with no rest. 

He remained quiet however, pushing on as they blurred through the vast land. Mark took his phone out at some point and started to record a video. It was probably choppy given how fast they were going but he wanted some type of video reminder of just how beautiful everything was. He turned the phone to Jinyoung and captured just how focused he looked on riding.

The way his brow seemed knitted together in concentration, the way his clothes billowed behind him in the wind. It was weird. Despite how fast they were going, it truly looked as if Jinyoung was moving in slow motion. There seemed to be this aura around him, radiating beauty as he seemed to truly belong to this world. Mark didn’t want to linger. He quickly ended the video and put his phone away, focusing on the road as to not allow himself to think on the subject any longer.

After a while, Jinyoung called for them to stop. They had reached a little town at the midway point and he felt it would be good to let everyone rest. Despite them being in a rush, he knew that they would be of no use to anyone feeling fatigue. Especially the horses that would need to carry them the final few miles. Getting down from the horse, Mark rubbed his sore thighs, groaning at the sting of how raw they felt. He took a moment to get himself in order before he lead the horse over to where food and water was provided. The horse seemed as happy and thankful as he did for the break. Mark pet the side of his nose, smiling at the beautiful chestnut stallion. Jinyoung walked over and gently touched Mark’s shoulder, waiting for him to look over before he nodded towards a simple looking building.

“We will be eating soon, come.” Jinyoung said, moving away. Mark made sure the horse was okay before he followed after Jinyoung, keeping pace with him as they walked up a small path to a modest looking house. 

“Welcome everyone! Welcome welcome.” An older woman said, bowing several times before she ushered everyone inside.

Mark noted how it felt like every grandmother's house he’d been in. His own, his friends, his partners. It had that welcome vibe that made you feel safe. There were ornate tapestries hung on the walls. Vibrant scenes of Korean history, handcrafted with care. In his generation, these would be hung up in museums for people to view and marvel at, but here he was in person; getting to see one, not only in piece, but seemingly new. There was a table in the center of the room set up for seven. The banchan was spread out as a piece of meat cooked in the center. Mark knew to stay back since the pots had to be heated to such a degree to cook like that on the tables. 

“This is Jinyoung’s grandmother’s house. This is where he found comfort in his years before joining the order.” Jaebum said, walking up to Mark who was still busy taking everything in. Quickly, Mark turned around, a shocked look on his face as he watched Jinyoung fawn over the elderly woman.

“I didn’t know he had any family.” Mark kept his voice down, not wanting to be offensive, but Jinyoung didn’t seem the type to come from a happy healthy family.

“He doesn’t, well not any more.” Jaebum pulled Mark outside, not wanting to be around the others while they spoke. 

“His grandmother is the only family he has left. She has loved all of us as her own. He had never met her until a few years back. His parents were evil people, kept her away from him because they felt she was still living in the old days, the wild days of perversion and dreams.” Jaebum sighed. Mark chewed his lip, that alone explained a lot of his behavior. 

“Jinyoung spent most of his time growing up being trained by his father in the art of fighting, he was beat daily in every way you can think of. His father thought it would teach him how to feel no pain, by making him live in constant pain and fight through it. He was never shown love by his mother, for he wasn’t the eldest son so he didn’t matter as much as his brother did. His brother married, but shortly after died in a fight, his parents blamed Jinyoung for not being strong enough to protect him, and threw him to the elements to survive on his own.”

“What… happened to him then? So he was homeless?” Mark wrapped his arms around himself, Jaebum nodded his head.

“For a while. His parents were people of importance however. They had many enemies because of their vast wealth. Their home was attacked, Jinyoung heard of it and raced to protect his parents, but he was too late. Going through his families things, he learned of his grandmother and tracked her down, lived with her until he decided to join the order. She showed him love, and family, but it was too late for Jinyoung to soften. Though… I’ve never seen him open up to anyone like he does you, for that I’m thankful you’ve agreed to stay.” Jaebum bowed his head, putting his hand on Mark’s shoulder.

“Why did you tell me all of this? I… my heart breaks for him.” Mark looked back towards the house, remembering the first time he saw Jinyoung shirtless for his exam and noticed the state of him. The cuts and scars all over him. He could feel his eyes get glossy at the thought of someone being so evil to someone so beautiful.

“Because you see how he gets when you’re around. He’s healing. Finally, actually healing. He doesn’t know it yet but you’re good for him. I hope you really do stay, not only for your sake but for his.” Jaebum looked over when Jinyoung came to the doorway, he raised an eyebrow at the sight before he saw Jaebum touching Mark and narrowed his eyebrows.

“Jaebum.” He warned, Jaebum was quick to pull his hands away and take a step back.

“Breathe, we were only talking.” Jaebum smiled, moving inside the building. Mark looked as Jinyoung walked over, the same scowl on his face.

“I have to keep my eye on the boys around you don’t I?”Jinyoung sighed, crossing his arms. Mark again rolled his eyes.

“I’m not going to turn them gay. They are comfortable with me, and when you are comfortable you can afford such affection to show you care.” Mark put his hand on Jinyoung’s shoulder, same as Jaebum was doing to him. He looked almost unable to process what to do with that, looking to Mark’s hand before he took a step back.

“You’ve touched me before.” Mark reminded, Jinyoung just grumbled before he fixed his clothes.

“The food is ready, please come eat. My grandmother has made a lot for us. We will need to eat it all before we ride again.” He left on that note, heading inside the home to sit with the others.

Mark took a moment to compose himself, wondering what Jaebum’s words meant before he headed back inside. He knelt down, removing his cover, setting it on the floor next to him before he looked at everything on the table. It all smelled and looked beautiful, he couldn’t have asked for a better way to relax after everything they had done to get there.

“You will all be safe, right? My grandson will finish this war! You wait and see.” The grandmother praised before she pushed everyone to eat. Jinyoung tried to wait for everyone but she wouldn’t let him. Fussing that he was no longer with his parents, that he could eat first if he wanted. He brushed her off, but gave in and ate at her request. Mark smiled fondly, watching the scene before him.  
He had never seen Jinyoung look so at peace. This was a side of him that Mark could get used to, a softer side of him that seemed more reachable, more human.

He watched Jinyoung across the table, smile softly as he ate his food, relaxed shoulders as if he felt safe for the first time. Mark felt a bit in awe, his heartbeat started to speed up, he could feel himself warming up to Jinyoung. Not that he wasn’t already.

But this was different.

Despite everything he had been through, he was still one of the most caring people Mark had ever met. He put everything he had into keeping the people he cared about safe, and though he was lost when it came to certain areas, Mark could tell that he had been trying to at least leave it alone. Now he seemed to only get upset if he saw one of the boys getting too physically close to him, or any time Eunwoo was around, which he hadn’t been since he left for the country.

Jinyoung looked up at Mark and watched him for a moment, the two held eyes for a while before Mark looked down at his hands. Jinyoung wanted to say something but his grandmother cut in, asking him about their travels. He looked away from Mark to answer her, though his eyes glanced over at Mark from time to time.

Once their meal was over they had to get back on the road. They wanted to make it to the safe point before nightfall. It would take them two days to travel to where they needed to go, but Jinyoung didn’t want them riding in the dark. The grandmother supplied them with plenty of food to travel with, and gave each of the boys a protection medallion. She warned them to be safe, to take care of her grandson, and come back in one piece. Mark couldn’t help but feel as if he were seeing Jinyoung in a new way, and understood more of why he did the things he did.

Mark jumped back on his horse and took his place by Jinyoung’s side. He gave Jinyoung a kind nod before they took off for the second half of their trip. This time they didn’t go as fast, they still had a long way to go but weren’t in such a rush to get there by a certain time. They stopped once so everyone could pee, and stretch, before back to the road they went. Mark didn’t take so much time enjoying the views of Korea during this part of the trip. He was a bit lost in his thoughts, truth be told. 

Everything going on in the last year had really messed with his head. How easily he was adapting to this archaic lifestyle, how much he still missed home but was trying to ignore that, given how bad they seemed to want him around. How he was confused about Jinyoung, and wanted to freak out and demand he tell him what was going on with him, but at the same time he knew to respect Jinyoung and give him his space. 

Before he knew it, the sun was going down. The sky was filled with the same vibrant blues, purples, and oranges that Mark had seen with Eunwoo on the hill. It was different though, flying by on a horse as they moved along the mountains. The beautifully painted sky not dancing on the lapping waves below, but changing the colors of the grass below. Mark felt like the whole country was something out of a book. It was a shame that the whole thing would be overrun with giant buildings, major highways, and vast overpopulation in a couple hundred years.

If he had to pick, he would say he loved the way the world looked more here, but missed the modern advances to medicine, food, and technology. It wasn’t even his family that he missed the most, of all things, he missed how easy it was to get food when you wanted. The convenience of bottled water, and instant noodles. 

Thinking about it made him laugh, ignoring the weird look Jinyoung gave him as he looked over his shoulder.

He was so lost in his own thoughts he didn’t notice it.

Soon after they arrived in the city. A larger village that looked a bit more on edge. The closer they got to the conflict area, the more jumpy everyone seemed to be. Towns people noticed them on the horses and made their way quickly inside their homes. Doors shut, windows closed, as if they feared the order would bring war over peace. Mark frowned, licking over his lips as he looked around.

“This was our old city, there was a large battle here. It was right when the order was formed. We lost two in the battle, we’re the only 6 left.” Jaebum said, noting how confused Mark looked. 

“Oh. Is that why everyone looks so scared of you guys?” He asked, Jaebum nodded his head and let out a sigh.

“They doubt we are able to protect them, even though we’ve done so countless times. I was uneasy about staying here again, but Jinyoung assured me we would be okay for the night.” Jaebum chewed his lower lip, looking forward when Jinyoung got close to them.

“We are here, let’s walk the rest of the way.”Jinyoung stated, carefully jumping off the horse to lead it to the stall area. Mark followed his lead, getting all of his things untied from the horse before he threw his bags over his shoulders.

“That is such an easy way to carry things, you must tell us how you make that.” Yugyeom praised, smiling wide at Mark as he got his things off the horse. 

“They don’t have enough rooms for all of us, so we will have to sleep two, two, and three. Shall we decide who sleeps where?” Jackson said, coming from the main door of the building. Jaebum thought.  
“Jackson and I will share. Jinyoung and Mark, since they are the elders, can share, then Youngjae, Bambam and Yugyeom will share. It’s split by year, that works for you, right?” Jaebum turned to Jinyoung, giving him a blank expression. Jinyoung seemed a bit lost, even though that’s how they should have split it up. He looked to Mark, then back to Jaebum before standing straighter and nodding his head.  
“Yes, that is fine by me. Mark, is that okay?” Jinyoung turned to Mark, chewing his lip as Mark gave the most adorable ear to ear grin. 

“Settled. Go get settled down, we will eat soon.” The boys took to the building, being shown to their rooms by the woman in charge. When she got to Mark and Jinyoung’s room, she bowed her head before opening the sliding door.

“We only had one bed left, we hope neither of you mind.” She looked worried, Mark gave her a kind smile and shook his head no.

“It’s okay Unnie. We will make it work.” Mark bowed, removing his shoes before he walked into the room. Jinyoung followed, setting his things down on the floor before he turned to face Mark.  
“You can take the bed, I will be okay keeping watch over everyone tonight.”

“No. You’re going to sleep beside me because you are of no use to anyone if you’re tired.” Mark made clear, laying his body down on the bed, groaning at how sore he felt, and how amazing it felt against his aching limbs.

“You need to relax as well. How can you heal anyone in this state.” Jinyoung got down on his knees, pulling Mark’s leg to him. He felt along the skin over his pants for a second before he rubbed a bit of the soreness away. It was as if he knew just where to go to help heal the knots in his thighs. Mark shut his eyes, trying not to focus on how good it felt. 

“Your whole body is tense, is this an always thing? This is probably why you fall so often during training. You need to learn to relax your body.” Jinyoung frowned, his hands moving lower on Mark’s leg before he moved to his arm. He didn’t want to reach over Mark out of respect.

“Excuse me, you are not one to tell others they need to relax.” Mark teased, one eye opening to see Jinyoung before he closed it. Probably better to not watch Jinyoung giving him a massage.  
“I relax in my own ways. It’s better for me to do so alone.” Jinyoung blushed, looking from Mark’s face down to what he was doing.

“That sounds like you’re doing something... not so innocent.” Mark let out a laugh, looking up when there was a knock at the slider. Jinyoung stopped, dropping Mark’s arm quickly before he spun to open the slider. The room was that small.

“They said the food is ready for us, we can go eat. Or should we have some sent to the rooms so we can just rest?” Jackson looked at Mark laying down, raising an eyebrow before his attention turned to Jinyoung.

“Bring the food to the rooms, I feel we all need as much rest as we can get.” Jinyoung stated, Jackson bowed before taking his leave. Jinyoung shut the door before he looked back to Mark.

“Do you want me to leave the room when you change?” Mark teased, laying on his side to better look at Jinyoung.

“You have seen me near naked, I don’t think that matters anymore.” Jinyoung frowned, looking at his clothes before he carefully undid a few of his layers, setting his hat to the side. Mark chewed his lip before he undid his jacket, letting it sit on the side by Jinyoung’s discarded clothing.

“That would mean that we’re like, married, and that’s not legal here.” Mark again teased Jinyoung. It seemed though he was more understanding of it now than he was when Mark first got there.

“Not legal in mine, but legal in yours right? Maybe we should just go back to your time where anything can take place with no risk.” Jinyoung teased, probably for the first time in his life. It wasn’t the best, but Mark was impressed he made it that far. “Living in chaos sounds fun.”

“You wouldn’t do well in my time.” Mark smirked, standing up to get out of his pants, leaving him in just a shirt, and his boxers. Jinyoung covered his eyes, head facing down so he didn’t see Mark doing such a intimate action.

“Why would I not do well? I can fight, I can hunt, I can…”

“Drive a car? Shoot a gun? Upload pictures to twitter and make sick memes?” Mark knelt down once he was changed, getting comfortable. Jinyoung pulled his hands from his eyes and looked at Mark before he huffed.

“I don’t even know what those words mean, but I would be able to adapt.” Jinyoung stated, staying firm in his point before the door opened again. Mark saw Youngjae carry in a tray of food, setting it down, he bowed and left without another word.

Even in a different place, Youngjae was still stuck with the food.

Mark scooted closer, taking the provided chopsticks before he said a little prayer. Jinyoung joined him before they started to eat. This time they had their own chopsticks, but Jinyoung kept his habit of pushing food towards Mark so he ate more. Mark had become so used to it now that he didn’t even question it, he would pick it right up and eat it.   
They ate in silence, Jinyoung made sure of that even though they weren’t together as a group. When the food was finished, Jinyoung set the tray outside for someone to pick up before he latched the door shut. Mark watched him carefully before he pulled his shirt off, tossing it into the pile of clothes. Jinyoung tried to act like that didn’t stir an unfamiliar emotion before he let out a strangled groan, picking the shirt back up and holding it out for Mark to take.

“It’s hot! I can’t sleep in a shirt.” Mark frowned, taking the shirt but throwing it right back onto the pile. Jinyoung huffed, keeping his eyes on the floor.

“I don’t like to sleep like this either but it’s what has to be done.”

“Says who?”

“Says…”

“Says nobody. You are allowed to sleep however you’re comfortable.” Mark moved to roll over onto his stomach, sliding his arms up under his head for support as his eyes closed. Jinyoung watched Mark carefully before he sighed, he moved to play with the strings keeping his clothes up as if he were toying with the idea of taking them off. He had never slept with no shirt on before, surely that was a future thing. Mark looked so comfortable though.

It wasn’t like Mark had never seen him shirtless.

Torn with what to do, Jinyoung finally caved. He undid the several strings before he slid out of his clothes. He was left in what would be their version of boxers. Longer pants that went down to his knees, and came up to just below his belly button. He set his clothes to the side before he laid down in the bed next to Mark. Feeling the thin mattress sink down, Mark opened his eyes to see Jinyoung next to him, he looked at his body for a few moments before his eyes slid up to his face.

“Do not get any ideas! I took a vow.” Jinyoung blushed, having caught the way Mark was looking at him.

“So if you didn’t take a vow it would be okay?” Mark raised an eyebrow, turning onto his side to better see Jinyoung.

“I mean I guess not because I wouldn’t have… wait no! No. It wouldn’t be okay because I am male. How am I supposed to produce an heir for my family if I’m with someone that’s not a woman.” Jinyoung shook his head at the thought, turning to lay on his back.

“In my time a boy can have a woman carry a baby for him, and then take the baby as his own.. Or he can go adopt a child that another couple gave up or couldn’t take care of for whatever reason.” Mark shrugged. Jinyoung furrowed his eyebrows at that.

“A woman will have a baby with a man, but not be with the man? What kind of world is that. Why would a woman want to be pregnant and not in love with the man.” Jinyoung couldn’t grasp it, but Mark didn’t think he would. That concept probably wasn’t a thing yet, most families didn’t see babies born to the husband and wife as legitimate. 

“So right now there are probably 350 million people on earth.” Mark chewed his lip, trying to remember his history classes they made the soldiers take before they shipped them out. 

“That is so many! See, there are plenty of women for everyone.” Jinyoung turned to look at Mark, regretting the decision when he noticed how close they were.

“Well in my time there are 6 billion people, maybe even more. There are enough people. I don’t need a family. The world is overpopulated.” Mark hoped that made sense, he didn’t know how high numbers went in this era.

“Six… billion.” Jinyoung gasped, shaking his head as if it were an impossible idea.

“Exactly. I can see the need for it now, but it’s not like that for me.” Mark chewed his lip, giving Jinyoung another look over before he looked down at the floor.

“But you live in this time now, here with us… forever right? So this is the time to be like that. How else will you be?” Jinyoung frowned, sitting up some. He was so close to Mark, but he seemed very set on getting his answer.

“I will find a man, and live my life with him in secret.” Mark made clear, the tone of his voice warning Jinyoung that they weren’t going to go through this again.

“How do you know for sure that you want to be with a man, that you love men?” Jinyoung seemed curious, his tone not so angry. Then again he seemed to be ignoring Mark’s last statement altogether.

“Because I have been with men, I’ve had sex with men, I’ve had sex with women… I know which one felt better, I know which one I enjoyed better, made me feel better. I can’t deny the way my body is made.” Mark shrugged again, sitting up some to look at Jinyoung head on.

“You will be with Eunwoo forever?” Jinyoung grumbled, not really sounding supportive of the idea.

“Maybe. Who would you think better suits me?” Mark raised an eyebrow, noticing the way Jinyoung’s cheeks started to get pink.

“You are better to stay with me… and the boys forever. You don’t need to leave to get married.” Jinyoung thought for a moment before he looked up to make eye contact with Mark.

“I am going to stay with you boys forever, that doesn’t mean I can’t move out and live with a man I love. I’ll still be here to take care of you all when you need me.” Mark sighed, resting his body back down against the blankets.

“Love… do you not love, me?” Jinyoung looked down at Mark, eyes full of so much innocent curiosity.

“Of course I do, but that’s a different kind of love. Maybe in another life, if you were as I am, we could have had something beautiful together, but you’re someone that loves women, and sworn to never be with anyone regardless. So even if I wanted to, I could never love you like that…” Mark chewed his lip, saying the words out loud actually hit him like a ton of bricks. He moved to face away from Jinyoung, carefully pulling the blanket up over him before he blew out the candles nearby. 

Jinyoung watched him, feeling his own series of emotions as he registered Mark’s words. Jinyoung reached out, wanting to touch Mark and assure him that he didn’t need to look so sad.

Why did he care? He didn’t like.. Men. He, no. It wasn’t allowed.

Did he.. 

No!

Jinyoung whimpered, pulling his hand back before he rolled over to blow out his candles, laying out on his back, his mind started to flood with thoughts. He was always so enraged when Eunwoo was around but why? Mark was not sworn to the order so he couldn’t be angry that Mark had a love interest, even if he was told his whole life being with other men was a sin, he himself thought men could be beautiful, sometimes more than women. But that didn’t make him as Mark was… did it?

Mark made him feel as nobody ever had before. A rush of emotions he didn’t even know he was capable of feeling. He brought him such joy, such peace, just by doing something as simple as sitting next to him during dinner, and watching over him as they trained. Having Mark close was a source of happiness for him. But also a source of rage. Getting so twisted and angry when another touched him, smiled at him, and now this other male came to try and take what was his…

Wait.

Mark wasn’t his. He didn’t belong to him, as Jinyoung couldn’t belong to anyone. He just was protective of Mark, that’s all it was... Right?

Mark was the one beautiful thing in his life though. In every single way. Truth be told he had never known physical touch before, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get aroused by people. Thinking back, he didn’t know if he’d ever gotten aroused around a woman before, but he knew that since Mark arrived, he woke up with more problems than he’d ever had before. 

The turmoil in his head kept him awake, watching Mark carefully until his body rolled over. Jinyoung laid their frozen, unsure of what to do as Mark curled his body up close to his own. His arm wrapped around Jinyoung’s torso as if he were drawn to him. The warmth of his body was something Jinyoung had never experienced before.

Jinyoung quickly found out just how soft Mark’s skin was, how he smelled like nothing Jinyoung had ever smelled before, but it was the most alluring scent ever. He noted how long his eyelashes looked fanned out against his cheeks. Jinyoung had never really taken an up close look at Mark before but he could understand now why Eunwoo was always around. Someone like him wasn’t common in their time, he was honestly breathtaking. Jinyoung found his body reacting to the small amount of contact they were sharing, looking down at the very obvious problem his pants were doing nothing to hide. He used his free hand to try and fix himself to make it less obvious, groaning in confusion as to why he was responding this way. 

Dead asleep, Mark didn’t notice or feel any of Jinyoung’s movements. He just clung tighter to him, pushing his head into his neck. His soft breaths tickled the skin, making Jinyoung’s body feel warm. He felt comfortable though, despite the uncomfortableness in his lower half, he felt safe with Mark by his side. Closing his eyes, sleep soon found him, his racing mind quieted as he allowed himself to drift off. 

Generally Jinyoung stayed in one position when he slept, but when they woke up they were face to face. Mark’s legs tangled with Jinyoung’s own. Their arms wrapped around each other, keeping their bodies close. It was Jinyoung who woke up first, as always, his body never let him sleep in even if he wanted. It didn’t matter what time he went to bed either. He opened his eyes and noticed how close Mark’s face was to his own. His breathing hitched, watching how peaceful he looked before he noticed how tangled they were together.

Looking down at their bodies, he saw that not only he awoke with an erection, but Mark seemed to have one too. He bit at his lower lip trying to shift his hips, but he wounded up just brushing their cocks together. Mark let out a groan, his body pushing closer, causing more friction. Jinyoung’s eyes went wide, he had never experienced anything like this before, but he was scared at how good it felt. He shouldn’t be reacting like this. It was so simple, so minimal.

Scared to move, Jinyoung laid there, silently praying that there be some sort of answer. His cock aching with how stiff it was, and his mind suffering with how good he felt every time Mark would push closer and rub against him. The way his soft little groans in his sleep were making him ache even more. Jinyoung needed to get out of this situation, he needed to get some air. Carefully, he tried to move but Mark seemed to cling tighter, pushing his body closer. Jinyoung’s eyes fell down to his lips, noting how full and pink they looked. They looked as soft as his skin felt.  
Why was he thinking these things?

“Nyoungie.” Mark’s voice was a whisper, a sleepy moaned out mess and Jinyoung couldn’t control himself. 

Jinyoung let out his own groan, ripping his body from Mark’s own, waking him up in the process before he grabbed his clothes and ran out of the room. Mark blinked confused, not sure what happened. He rubbed his tired eyes, giving his body a good stretch before sitting up. He saw the door wide open, and only some of Jinyoung’s clothes taken. Quickly, he pulled his uniform on, ignoring his morning wood before he rushed out of the room with the rest of Jinyoung’s clothes in hand.

“What happened to Jinyoung? Why is he naked?” Jackson called, having seen Jinyoung run as fast as he could through the building. Mark yelled asking about which way he went before following the direction Jackson pointed at. Youngjae ran over to see what was going on, confused as he watched Mark vanish behind the building and into the woods.

“Should we go after them?” Youngjae worried, looking at Jackson, then to Jaebum who had run out after hearing all the yelling.

“What happened?” Jaebum asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Leader ran out of their room, he looked upset. He’s not dressed properly either. Mark just ran after him. Did our plan not work? Should we go after them?” Jackson looked at Jaebum for help.

“No. They need to sort this out on their own. If they are not back when we’re ready to leave, I will go find them. You all, start getting ready.” Jaebum ordered, taking one last look towards where Mark vanished before he sighed.

“JINYOUNG!” Mark yelled, doing his best to try and track Jinyoung down. It was near impossible with his training though. He was meant to never be found. 

“Jinyoung!”

Mark’s feet carried him through the forest, happy that the trees were providing them shelter from the heavy rain. At least somewhat. He raced through an unclear path until he came to a small clearing among the trees, a small patch of grass and wildflowers scattered about. The rain cast a dreary sort of ambiance on the whole scene. He found Jinyoung knelt down in the center of the trees, body hunched over with his fists in the grass as if he were trying to pull the earth up and move it. Mark watched him, not wanting to make himself known and have Jinyoung start running again.

Jinyoung was silent though, his body shaking as the rain fell over his naked torso. Mark didn’t know what happened, or why he was being like this. Maybe a bad dream? He walked over finally, taking the shirt he had grabbed and carefully put it over Jinyoung’s shoulders. Jinyoung let out a soft whimper, hanging his head before he stood up and looked at Mark.  
He looked so lost, so confused, but also defeated.

“Why? I have done all that I can to be good, why me?” Jinyoung demanded an answer, glaring up at the raining sky.

“Why what Jinyoung?” Mark chewed his lip, not sure if Jinyoung was crying or if it was the rain falling down his face. Either way, he’d never seen this side of Jinyoung before.

“Why am I feeling the way that I’m feeling? Why do I get so enraged and angry when Eunwoo is near you? Why do I feel so warm and comfortable when you’re by my side?” Jinyoung yelled, demanding an answer yet again. He was breathing heavy, glaring at Mark as if he had done something wrong.

“You’re… what? Really?” Mark looked shocked, taking a step back. Jinyoung didn’t let the distance grow though, he took a step closer to Mark quickly closing the gap between them.

“Every time you touch one of the other’s in the order, my blood gets hot, I get so angry. So much rage is in me, yet… when you look at me, and stand by my side I feel nothing but calm. I look for you often just to be close to you because I enjoy it, and I get so mad when I know you leave to go see him. Answer me honestly, have you... been with him yet? In an intimate nature?” Jinyoung was shaking less, but he still looked angry. Mark chewed at his lower lip before he looked down.

“That isn’t any of your business.” Mark’s voice was a whisper.

“The day before he left, you stayed with him that night. Did you sleep by his side, did you sleep with him?” Jinyoung demanded again, his voice loud and forceful.

“No! I didn’t… we didn’t have sex.” Mark yelled back, looking up at Jinyoung finally.

“Nobody even mentioned sex, I wanted to know if you shared a bed with him that night. Did you curl up with him...Did you press your body to his own.” Jinyoung whimpered, blinking away the tears, hoping that Mark didn’t notice them.

“No. Not that it’s any of your business. He gave me his bed and slept next to it but there was a lot of distance between us.” Mark didn’t know why he was answering, but he felt he had something to prove to Jinyoung.

“I don’t ever want you... I don’t ever want you to see him again.”

“That’s not fair!” 

“I don’t care. I’m forbidding you from ever seeing him again. He had impure intentions with you and I won’t let it happen!” Jinyoung yelled, grabbing Mark’s shoulders, shaking him as if that would make his point clear.

“WHY? YOU CAN’T DO THAT! WHY CAN’T I BE WITH HIM?” Mark yelled, his own tears forming. His eyes hot as they flooded his vision, whimpering out as he tried to blink them away.

“BECAUSE IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU NOBODY CAN!” Jinyoung blurted out, shocking both of them. Mark’s jaw dropped, his eyes going wide as Jinyoung seemed to have some sort of revelation. He stopped shaking Mark, looking at him in the eyes with a mix of so many emotions Mark didn’t know what to make of it. He didn’t pull away however. He locked eyes with Mark so he understood the message.

“Nobody can.”


	4. Come Back

The rain seemed to beat down on them harder than it was before, that or Mark was strangely hyper aware of everything going on around him now. His eyes never left Jinyoung. The way the water rolled down his face, the fact that he could now tell he had been crying. Jinyoung’s hands gripped so tight on his shoulders, his knuckles turned white. 

Despite how hard the rain was coming down, Mark heard nothing. The world fell silent after Jinyoung’s words. All that was left was a strange ringing in his ears as he processed each word, every letter.  
“Nobody can.” 

Mark’s heartbeat was out of control, his tears falling freely down his cheeks as he watched Jinyoung more carefully than ever before. 

“You can’t do this.” Mark finally whimpered, wanting so hard to look away from Jinyoung, but he couldn’t.

“I don’t have a choice. I can’t sit here and have my heart, mind, and body be like this. I can’t watch you belong to anyone but me!” Jinyoung tried, his grip softening, though he kept Mark close.

“This isn’t fair to me. You can’t… tell me I have to be alone forever because you can’t stand the sight of me being with other people. I want to be loved Jinyoung.” Mark’s voice became raised as he tried to push Jinyoung away, only making him pull him closer to his body for a hug. Mark gasped, his head pressed into Jinyoung’s neck.

“My heart will stop if I have to witness you smiling at someone else the way I want you to smile at me. It hurts so bad, I feel as if I can’t breathe, I can’t think. Please. I want the pain to stop.” Jinyoung whimpered, strong arms wrapping around Mark’s body. 

“You are bound to an oath, I can’t make you break that. I don’t know what you’re feeling and I’m sorry you… that I’m causing you pain. It hurts me at times too, when you yell at me for being near other men. I understand now why you’re doing it, and I know you’re scared… but how will you ever love me, if you can’t ever be with me? That is the worst form of torture for yourself.” Mark spoke through his sobs, keeping his body close to Jinyoung’s own. The warmth still radiating off of him helped dull the sting of the cold rain. 

“I can love you! I do love you!” Jinyoung yelled, making Mark jump slightly, he looked up at Jinyoung with wide eyes.

“Don’t tell me I don’t have the ability to love. I’m not an idiot. I have never known love before, at least not from the people in my life, but I know how I feel and have felt since you came into our lives. I need you by my side, and I know that I can’t be or do everything that you would need of me, but maybe one day I can. I’m asking that you… for now, be patient with me while I try to figure this all out and please, please, don’t be with him anymore.” Jinyoung’s voice sounded almost needy, but Mark was getting mad that Jinyoung still wasn’t understanding.

“To live a life where I love you, but can’t touch you is a torture you should never put on anyone.” Mark stated, pulling away quickly and turning to leave before he felt Jinyoung grab his hand. He looked at their fingers before Jinyoung pulled him close. 

Mark didn’t have time to think or react before he felt Jinyoung’s lips pressed tightly against his own. Jinyoung’s free arm wrapped around his body to pull him close as he held his hand at their side. Mark melted against the feeling, whimpering softly as he started to kiss Jinyoung back. Their lips sliding together perfectly, the softness and full feeling of Jinyoung’s lips was something Mark could easily become addicted to.

He understood now. 

Why Jinyoung yelled at him so often, why he got mad everytime Mark touched someone. He was jealous, but so scared of himself he didn’t know how to admit it, or act. Sure, anger isn’t the way to go about showing someone you loved them, but in this time when being gay was more taboo than it had been, Mark understood.

Not only that, but after his conversation with Jaebum, knowing what he now knew about Jinyoung’s tortured past, he could understand him not knowing how to properly show love. His views of it were so distorted and almost nonexistent that Mark was shocked he got this much out of him. 

Mark soon wrapped his arms around Jinyoung’s neck, preventing him from pulling their heads apart. Not that Jinyoung seemed to care, he was already in deep at this point. There really was no turning back. 

Staying there under the rain, Mark found a love in this forbidden feeling of having Jinyoung in this way. 

What broke them apart finally was the sound of someone clearing their throat. Jinyoung jumped back so fast, looking around nervously until he spotted Jaebum standing a few steps away. Jinyoung stammered, looking at his friend before he lowered his eyes to the ground almost as if he were ashamed of what was happening.

“It’s about time you two figured it out, but we should start heading to the next city.” Jaebum said, unable to stop the smirk from pulling at the corners of his lips. Jinyoung’s jaw dropped looking at Jaebum. 

“What do you mean it’s about time?” Jinyoung got defensive, turning to look at his friend.

“Don’t think us all ignorant. We have known you for years and never once before him did you act the way you have been. We’ve all been there when Eunwoo was around, we saw how you got. It’s clear, your feelings for Mark. We just thought it would take you more time to figure it out.” He smiled more, shrugging his shoulders as if it were the most obvious thing alive.

“Is that why you put us in a room together?” Mark asked, cocking his head to the side. Jaebum nodded his head yes before letting out a soft laugh.

“I’m sorry.” Jaebum put his hands up when he saw how angry Jinyoung looked. 

“Do you know what this means now?” Jinyoung feared, keeping close to Mark however.

“You know we’re more loyal to you than we are to the sworn code. If this is your happiness than we all support you, and will do everything to protect you two.” Jaebum bowed his head, swearing his oath to the two of them right then and there. Jinyoung walked over and put his hand on Jaebum’s shoulder until they were looking eye to eye. Jaebum raised his hand up and cupped Jinyoung’s arm in a sign of affection.

“How can you support me when…” Jinyoung bit his tongue, knowing how angry he’d make Mark if he finished that sentence.

“When will you finally admit to yourself you found love? Jinyoung, you need to stop being scared to admit to yourself that this is who you are. I see how happy he makes you, and I know this will be healing for you. Forget what religion says, what society says. It was good enough for King’s of old, and it’s accepted in his years. In order to make his world a better place, it needs to start with us being more accepting. We fight for the people not only with skill, but with kindness as well. You said that yourself.” Jaebum spoke softly, gripping Jinyoung’s arm tighter before he looked to Mark.

“If you hurt him, and break his heart, I will send you back to your year myself.” Jaebum swore and all Mark could do was laugh. Jinyoung looked less than amused however, giving Jaebum a vicious glare at the mention of sending Mark back to his time. 

“He will be by our side forever, there is no going back now that I finally have him. Now that I am starting to understand myself.” Jinyoung made clear, Jaebum couldn’t help but smirk, nodding his head before he pulled away.

“Come. Everyone is waiting. I won’t tell them of what I’ve seen here. Not that any of them would care about it, but at least until this war is over, we should focus on our mission.” Jaebum started back for the main building. Mark walked closer to stand by Jinyoung’s side. He watched Jaebum carefully vanish into the woods before he turned to face Jinyoung.

Going to open his mouth to speak, he was met with another kiss from Jinyoung, but he had no complaints or hesitations in kissing him back. He simply pressed closer to him, one hand going up to cup his cheek as their lips slid together as if they were made to do so. Mark now felt glad he’d turned Eunwoo down that night, refused his advances. Not that he told anyone that, but he felt better not having that awkward conversation with him when he got back and was suddenly tied to Jinyoung.

“Sorry. I don’t know when I’ll be able to do that again, so I thought I might as well make the most of it.” Jinyoung smirked, holding Mark closer for another moment before he pulled away and started for where Jaebum was heading. Mark could only smile, following behind him, back to the group.

They had to pack up. Having left so quickly to sort all this out, they were behind on everything. Jinyoung didn’t want to keep everyone waiting so he quickly changed and got his things ready to leave. Mark helped, making sure they wouldn’t be wet for the ride, even if they would just get wet again, they needed that chance to dry off before they got sick.

He’d seen Korean drama’s in his down time, he knew how this getting wet thing worked.

Once they were all loaded up they got onto their horses, ignoring all comments from the others about where they had been, and took off without a moment's hesitation. Though Mark suspected Jaebum warned all of them with violence to not ask any more questions regarding what happened in the woods between him and Jinyoung.

He was thankful for that, truth be told, because he didn’t even know how to explain it himself.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting to the next village took them longer than expected. The road was blocked in some areas due to the bad weather, the horses got tired halfway there and needed to rest, which was fine because they needed to eat. Eventually they made it to their final location. A city one and a half days horse ride away. From the looks of it, the entire town had been turned into a military camp ready to defend itself at a moments notice.

Upon arrival, the order was questioned about their business, and let in as soon as the guards figured out who they were. Yelling to let them in at once, ordering people to move faster. It was actually a sight to see. How high up they all ranked despite living so modestly.

Through the countries history there were many historic orders, silent soldiers swore to protect and serve God and country. The most vicious and skilled killers the country had ever seen. Ranking higher than any officer, answering only to the King. Over the years, fewer and fewer orders remained. Be they died from injury during a fight, broke their oath and vanished, or simply retired to a better life at an old age. Regardless, there was but one order left. 

Jinyoung's. 

Mark was amazed at the welcome they received. Soldiers both low and high ranking bowing their heads as the seven trotted their way through the city streets. This town was less fisherman village, and more modern day city. At least as modern as it could get for the era. Mark looked at all the buildings, the way they held an upper class feel to them. He understood why it was to be protected. He wondered if he had spent any time there before he arrived in Busan, if it still stood in modern days. It probably didn’t look anything like it did now. 

He needed to stop that.

Jinyoung made it clear that Mark was staying in ancient times, and dreaming of his past wouldn’t get him anywhere. All it would do would be taking him away from Jinyoung, and nobody wanted that.   
They arrived at a more official looking building and jumped down. Mark was instructed to wait outside since he wasn’t an official member of the order. He didn’t have a problem with that. He instead lead a few soldiers who carried their things to the area set up for them to stay in. Mark got everyone sorted into their rooms. It was the same set up again: two, two, and three. He put himself with Jinyoung before anyone else could, and went about seeing if he could be of any help to the people around. 

He washed their clothes from the morning, before insisting on helping with dinner. The women favored him because of his charm, telling him not many soldiers were this kind to them. They would come and go, but all were mostly macho men who thought the world of themselves, and not others. That broke Mark’s heart, and drove him to happily help them in any way he could be of use.  
It was quite late when the boys got back, Mark could tell they had gone through a lot with how tired they all looked. Although none of them looked worried or nervous. They were all quietly talking amongst themselves as they settled down in a modest sized room together to eat. Mark walked in with one of the women to set all the food out. Jinyoung raised an eyebrow, watching Mark before he pulled him down to sit next to him.

“What? I had to make myself useful while you were busy.” Mark smirked, looking to the others around the table before he looked back to Jinyoung.

“You’re not a servant here.” Jinyoung reminded, keeping Mark at his side. 

“I know. But I wanted to help while you were all away.” Mark fixed himself, sitting down in a more comfortable position next to Jinyoung, watching as the rest of the food was brought out.

“Your soldier here helped us with the cooking, he showed us many great things. Careful we don’t keep him!” One of the women said, smiling so wide at Mark. Jinyoung glared at her, even though he knew that Mark would never go for her, he couldn’t help but be angry at anyone showing a fondness for the boy. Mark put his hand on Jinyoung’s leg under the table, seeing the way he was reacting. Jinyoung looked down at Mark’s hand, then up and over to Mark. 

“Is what I’m doing wrong?” He asked, not defensive though, there was genuine curiosity behind his words.

“You know that’s not my taste. Please eat.” Mark stated, keeping it short before he moved to help serve everyone with Youngjae.

Jinyoung couldn’t even argue it. He just sat there and waited until his dish was full of food before he started to eat everything Mark had served to him. As usual, they ate in silence until all the food was gone. The meal was amazing to say the least, and Jinyoung would never admit it, but he knew it had something to do with the fact that Mark helped in the cooking.

Once the food was taken away, and the tea was served, they were left alone. The room was shut for their privacy, which Mark was thankful for. He looked to the others who seemed to be all eyes on him and Jinyoung. Mark just sipped at his tea and looked down towards the floor, not wanting their eyes to bore holes into his skull, even if that’s exactly what they were doing.

“We have a busy few weeks coming up. We have our orders, we leave at first light to go take care of a specific set of men. You will have to remain here Mark. The enemy numbers are growing by the day, they feel the war will start very soon. We have to try and take out their leaders before the strike can be ordered. We will have to part ways for several days.” Jaebum sighed, looking to Jinyoung who continued to sip his tea. Mark sat upright at the news, frowning slightly.

“Don’t you think a better plan of attack is to catch them off guard in the dead of night rather than a daytime assault?” Mark questioned, setting his glass down. They all looked around before turning to Jinyoung.

“That will only work for two of the three men. The third man is still on his way here. We need to get to him first before he can deliver the weaponry to the soldiers waiting. Then we can try from there to get the other two, it’s finding a way in, that’s troublesome.” Jinyoung sat back, his cup resting on the table as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“You take the uniforms of the men you take out, sneak into the camp pretending to be the envoy, and attack in surprise.” Mark declared like it was a no brainer. The rest of them just sat there stunned.  
“How do you come up with things like this. You should be the leader!” Youngjae gasped, flinching when Jinyoung sent a glare his way.

“These are all things we see in modern day movies. It’s not how we can do things now, so when people go for entertainment to watch a play, that’s what most of them are about. It’s easy to cover as the enemy, especially if you’re taking them out like so. Shouldn’t take that long to do either.” Mark leaned back against the wall, adjusting the neck of his uniform to not feel so tight.

“This is why Jinyoung picked you as his life partner.” Yugyeom blurted out, crying out in pain when he felt a sharp kick under the table. He grabbed his leg and looked around at who could have done it. “What! You said yourself they finally...”

“This is not a topic for discussion. You are all better off ignoring everything regarding the matter.” Jinyoung made very clear, giving them all the most serious of looks. The 5 of them nodded their heads, looking down at the ground before he turned to Mark.

“Jinyoung, don’t be so hard on them. They care for you as family, seeing you happy gives them joy. Orders rules or not, nobody here is judging you, us, or will turn you in for having emotions.” Mark’s voice was hushed, words meant only for Jinyoung. His features softened immediately, he knew that Mark was right. Even if all of this scared him to death, and he still didn’t fully understand it, not being so close-minded is what lead him to their first kiss.

He bit at his lower lip remembering the feel of Mark’s lips pressed against his own, only able to nod at Mark’s words before he looked out at the others.

“This doesn’t give any of you the right to speak up above me. Have you all forgotten your training? We are heading into war. Now is not the time for you all to forget your ways.” Jinyoung scolded, they all nodded their heads before bowing to their leader.

“Forgive us.” They all said at once. Mark frowned, watching them before he moved to stand up.

“I’ll leave you all to talk, I’m going to sleep.” He bowed his head before leaving the room. Everyone watched him go, turning to Jinyoung as if to ask why he was still sitting there. However, Jinyoung wanted to go over the plan of attack once again.

When the meeting was over, the 6 made their way for their designated rooms. Jackson stopped Jinyoung just outside of his own, touching the leaders arm as Jaebum walked inside. 

“Hyung, I don’t know what happened. But I want you to know from the bottom of my heart, I am happy for you. Now more than ever we need you to be strong, so that when all of this is over… you can go to the future with Mark.” Jackson said, Jaebum walked back outside with a shocked look on his face.

“How can you say that? After everything we went through, you want… him to leave?” Jaebum narrowed his eyebrows. 

“What if one day… the same things that brought Mark to us take him away. Our leader has found his love for the first time. I will do everything to make sure he never loses that love. As much as we want Mark to stay, we don’t know how this all works… but we can try to make sure if he is ever called back, that Jinyoung goes with him.” Jackson got angry, not sure why he was being attacked for wanting to protect Jinyoung.

“We will not talk of Mark going home. Ever. Do you understand me? He is staying here.” Jinyoung reminded, glaring at them both before he quickly took his leave. Jackson groaned as Jinyoung ran off for his room. Jaebum shoved him into their room quickly, shutting the door before he could cause more trouble.

Mark was in the middle of washing when Jinyoung came inside. Mark looked up from the small bowl of hot water, smiling at Jinyoung before he went back to washing his face and neck. Jinyoung watched him for a moment before he started to get himself undressed. He knew he had to do the same, and it was weird how he could feel okay being open like this not only with a man, but with someone he wasn’t married to. Not that they could ever get married. 

He still had some reservations about it. His eyes would divert away from Mark’s smooth skin, he didn’t let his mind linger on thoughts of wanting to touch it. To go up behind him and hold him close. He gave him privacy, nodding when he was finished. Mark ordered fresh water to be brought for Jinyoung to use before he set the bowl outside to be exchanged. Once they had fresh water, Mark carried it over to the designated area, not wanting the woman to do it and see Jinyoung’s naked chest. 

Jinyoung appreciated that.

Mark locked the door when Jinyoung was getting cleaned up, making up the beds for them. This time they had two separate beds, which Mark didn’t know if Jinyoung wanted his own or not. He sat down on the one closest to the window, laying with his head back as he looked through old photos on his phone. Jinyoung came over shortly after, wiping off his face before he looked at the two beds. He chewed at his lower lip before bending to sit on his knees.

“If I pull these beds together… I fear for my vows. Maybe it’s good to sleep like this, I won't be tempted to touch you.” Jinyoung set the towel down.

“I understand part of that. I know you and the boys will be leaving in the morning to go find that man. But what if… something happens to you, and I never see you again.” Mark frowned, sitting up some. He left his phone off to the side, crossing his legs to better get close to Jinyoung.

“You can’t ask me for all of that so soon. I’m only just understanding my actions, but I’m still not… okay with all of this. You have had many years to come to terms with what you are, but me? I’m finding things out yet bound by an oath to never be able to do anything about it.” Jinyoung hung his head, almost ashamed now.

“You’ve already broken your oath, when you kissed me in the woods. I’m not of this time to respect your king, or of this country for a matter of fact. I know loyalty to only you, and the boys.” Mark reached out to lift Jinyoung’s hand up, getting him to face him.

“You are of this time now. If we’re to remain here for the rest of our days you have to play by the rules.” Jinyoung frowned.

“I was playing by them, you weren’t.” Mark smirked, sitting up on his knees as he reached out to brush some of Jinyoung’s hair back out of his face. “Let your hair down.” 

“I can’t do that with you around.” Jinyoung licked over his lips, reaching up to adjust his manggeon. Mark frowned, lower lip sticking out.

“Why do you want to see it so bad?” Jinyoung frowned right back, fingers sliding back to the ties of his manggeon, thinking of removing it before he decided against it.

“I’ve never seen your hair down, but the other boys have said they have. I thought this was only for married men. That’s what Youngjae said, that’s why he never ties his like you do.” Mark licked over his lips, sitting back some.

“I wear it because even if I am not married to a person, I am married to the order. My life is dedicated already, so it makes sense for me. Plus in training, it’s easier. It won't get in my way.” Jinyoung shrugged, his hands going down in his lap.

“One day you will let me see you with it down.”

“One day. For now, you need to sleep.” Jinyoung got up to finish putting his clothes back on. Mark watched with a frown, getting up to stop Jinyoung as he tried to tie his shirt up.

“Please. If I can’t lay next to you, at least let me enjoy the sight of you.” 

“That will entice you to do things you should not be doing.” Jinyoung looked at him, wide eyes watching Mark’s hand.

“I know how to behave myself.” Mark assured, moving to pull the fabric from Jinyoung’s body, letting it fall to the floor next to them.

“You may know, but I do not.” Jinyoung frowned, moving to take a step closer to Mark. Watching Jinyoung, Mark tried to take a step back but found each one was met with Jinyoung moving closer. As if he were trying to prove a point. Groaning at the closeness, and sight of him shirtless, Mark found it very hard to behave himself. 

“You can either let your hair down, or you can sleep like this. You decide.” Mark whimpered, back hitting the wall. Jinyoung thought on it for a moment before he put his hands on either side of Mark’s head, his hips pressing against Mark’s own.

“When we slept last night, you pressed your body against mine. If I sleep like this again, I fear I will wake up to you doing the same.” Jinyoung didn’t seem to care how close they were, and it was making it hard for Mark to focus on behaving himself.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. You’re body is warm, I was cold.” Mark frowned, looking down at Jinyoung’s body before his eyes slid up to lock with his own.

“Your body made my body feel things. I felt urges and wants I’ve never felt before. Sleeping like this will lead to an uncomfortable horse ride again.” Jinyoung pushed his hips closer and it took everything in Mark not to let out a little whimper. He bit hard at his lower lip before he slid his hands to Jinyoung’s hips keeping him close.

“Go find your target tomorrow, kill those you need to kill, and then come back to me and let me reward you as you should be.” Mark pouted, knowing he was being vague but he hoped that Jinyoung would get the idea.

“You must wait. My service is not over. More rumors of spies in the village have surfaced, we must return right away once we are done here and hope that the city hasn’t been taken since we’ve been gone.” Jinyoung frowned, moving to pull away from Mark. He walked back towards the beds, kneeling down on the soft covers.

Though he wished that never happened, he felt like he could breathe again with Jinyoung no longer close to him. His heart beating so wildly in his chest, amazed at how something so innocent and simple as being close to someone could illicite that type of reaction out of him. Mark let out a sigh, slightly pouting as he moved back to his own bed and laid his body down on it. He stretched out some before pulling the covers up over himself, grabbing for his phone again. As Jinyoung was saying his nightly prayers, Mark snapped a picture of him. He looked so handsome, so peaceful. Smiling to himself as he looked at the picture, Jinyoung had crawled over to see what Mark was doing.

“Hey! You’re not allowed to capture parts of me in this thing.” Jinyoung frowned, grabbing the device to look at the image. “Is that really… what I look like right now.” He touched the screen and jumped when the image went away. 

“Yes. Handsome and strong.” Mark praised, leaning up to snatch the phone back before he turned it off. Jinyoung tried to reach for it again, earning a small smack to his hand as Mark tucked it away in his bag.

“That’s not fair. I am going to sleep.” Jinyoung grumbled, moving back towards his bed, blowing out the few candles before he laid down under the covers. 

Mark blew out his own candles, getting himself comfortable. His mind started to wander, thinking back to their time in the woods. He couldn’t help but smile as his fingers trailed against his lips, remembering how nervous Jinyoung was but how good it felt. Jinyoung must have been watching him, in a matter of moments, Mark felt the covers move as Jinyoung shifted his body in next to Mark’s.  
“Jinyoung…” Mark whispered, looking towards Jinyoung. Though he couldn’t make out all of him, he could still see part of him from the moonlight pouring in the window.

“One day you will know all of me, be patient. This is all I can give you for now.” Jinyoung leaned down, pressing his lips to Mark’s again. Happy he was getting any kind of attention from Jinyoung, Mark happily leaned his head up some to kiss back.

He wanted to go further, he wanted to have Jinyoung take him for all he was worth, but he knew to behave. His hands moved to pull Jinyoung closer as their bodies tangled together. Lips seemingly glued together with no intention of parting until neither of them could breathe.

Mark was okay losing a little sleep, if it meant he got to kiss Jinyoung just a little bit longer.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I can’t believe that worked.” Jackson said amused, laughing to himself as he removed the scarf covering his face. Jinyoung looked down at the lifeless body growing cold on the dirt floor, poking at him with his foot, with a smile on his face.

“Getting in here was the easiest we’ve ever had it. Remind me to thank Mark when we get back.” Jinyoung kept his voice to a whisper, rolling the body away from sight before he brushed off his hands.

“We need to find the others, do you think they’ve cleared the camp out?” Jackson grabbed whatever supplies he could find in the tent, knowing they could take them back with them. Jinyoung wondered if he learned that as well from Mark.

“I don’t hear any noise outside, so I assume so.” Jinyoung shrugged, carefully placing the headscarf back on before he left the tent. He surveyed the scene before he found Yugyeom walking back over to them, a bright smile on his face.

“They played up the numbers, and we’re told they don’t have the backup they thought they did. Men are either running for their lives, or already with God.” Yugyeom informed, setting the bag of his own goodies he’d picked up onto the little cart they had stolen. 

“This is not for us to load up on.” Jinyoung scolded, shoving the boy before he looked around for the others. Youngjae ran at them full force, quickly removing the scarf from his face.

“The troop that was supposed to come here, went to our village. We need to go home now. There was one hundred and seventy men in that envoy.” Youngjae was in a panic, knowing that the village had no military reinforcement to help them against any sort of attack, let alone one on that scale. 

Jinyoung nodded, yelling for Jackson to stay behind and wait for the other two as he, Yugyeom and Youngjae got back on their horses and took off for the village where Mark was waiting. Jinyoung, not in a panic, but he knew the situation was of the most importance. Even if they had orders to stay in the city until it was clear the Japanese were defeated, Jinyoung knew that if they took their city it would be bad news. It was one of the main providers for fish through the country, they depended on the resources caught and farmed there. Jinyoung knew he would have to answer for his actions but anyone could see where the true danger was.

Luckily for Jackson, he didn’t have to wait that long. The others arrived a few moments after Jinyoung and the other two left, and they were able to head out with no conflicts, leaving the mass of dead soldiers behind them.

When the real Korean army showed up to fight the battle, they would run into the lovely surprise. 

It wasn’t a long trip, they were back at the camp by sun rise but this meant the enemy forces had a half day’s ride on them. Jinyoung jumped off the horse as soon as he could, rushing inside the building and straight for the room he shared with Mark. Ripping open the gate Jinyoung found Mark praying, a sight he had never actually seen before. He felt almost bad bothering him.

It wasn’t until he saw him sitting there, did he realize just how much he missed him, and how horrible it would be if he got hurt and Mark had no way of finding out. He would just be leaving Mark in this time, free to marry that asshole Eunwoo without his permission. The thought started to make his blood boil.

Mark was his.

“We need to go. The troops that were supposed to come here for support, went to our temple instead. We need to leave now.” Jinyoung’s voice was hushed, not to alert the others in the surrounding rooms as he helped Mark to pack up all of his things and get ready to leave.

Mark just blinked, looking at Jinyoung as if he had several heads.

“You’re alive and well. That’s all that matters right now. Wait.” Mark rushed to stop him, pushing Jinyoung back against the wall as he pressed his face into his neck. “I’ve been praying you would come back safe, and here you are. I have been so scared. Are you okay? Are the others okay?”

“I will always come back to you, I made you that promise. We are all fine, thanks to you.” Jinyoung held Mark close, having missed him greatly while he was away. 

“I don’t like the idea of having to leave when I just got you back, but at least we are leaving together.” Mark leaned up to press a gentle kiss to Jinyoung’s lips, not trying to start anything heated.  
At least that’s what they kept telling themselves.

Jinyoung gripped Mark tighter as he kissed him back, unable to deny any sort of way Mark made him feel. He pushed his hips up to meet with Mark’s own, groaning at the feel of having his lover back by his side. As if he could breathe again.

“Are you sure it’s safe to leave here? What about the army over the hill?” Mark pulled back so he could start getting dressed, making quick work of it. 

“Either dead or running. Their command was easy to take out once we were hidden as you suggested. It’s because of you, in so many ways, we are all safe today.” Jinyoung smiled so wide it almost brought Mark to a dead stop. Never before had he experienced this side to him, and he never wanted it to go away. 

“Come. Once this is over we can really celebrate.” Mark started packing, throwing his things into his bags with no real plan or organization. 

“I thought hard the whole trip back here. It won’t be easy for us, it will… take… a lot of hard times but my mind is made up on something.” Jinyoung stopped Mark for a moment, making him look directly at him. 

“I’m going to leave the order, and take you far away from here. I am still scared, and don’t understand much, but I can’t lie about my love for you or put you through what being in this order would entail.” Jinyoung said softly, and Mark could tell he made up his mind. Chewing at his lip gently, Mark let out a soft whimper before he surged forward, capturing Jinyoung in a much more heated kiss than before.

“I love you. Fuck, I love you so much.” Mark whimpered, melting against Jinyoung as they kissed again, and again. Going from small simple pecks, to something that could lead to one of them on their knees.

Probably Mark. He didn’t know if Jinyoung even knew about that.

Were blowjobs a thing in the 1400’s?

The door flew open, Mark looked scared until he saw Yugyeom and shot him a nasty look. Yugyeom covered his eyes and turned around, bowing his body.

“I’m sorry Leader. We must go.” He reminded, carefully grabbing Mark’s bags from the floor before running away. Mark could only blush, pulling from Jinyoung’s embrace to fix himself before he too left the room without a word. Jinyoung just smirked, scanning for any lost things before leaving the room with the few things Mark forgot. He was quick to check on everyone, and the status of their supplies, before they were back on their horses and off for home.

The downside to this was that the village was a little less than two days away. They rode for as far and long as they could, getting to Jinyoung’s grandmother's house late in the evening. They hardly had time to eat, and sleep, before the others were arriving. Luckily, they all made it alive, Jinyoung chatted with Jackson for a while before it was back on the horses for the remaining part of the trip. They figured if they didn’t sleep, they would have the advantage and make up for the extra time the troops had before them. They were all past the point of exhaustion, but the pure adrenaline kept them going. As they came up top the final hill, Mark saw smoke in the distance. He gasped, spurring his horse faster as they rode down the hill towards what was once home. 

They were late. The enemy forces had taken the same initiative and skipped sleep, having heard the order was no longer there. Jinyoung shouted something to the others and they all split up. Mark watched in awe at the artistry of their movements as they went to do their own missions. Jinyoung rode up next to Mark and stopped his horse. Mark glared at him, trying to get around.   
“This is not your fight. Go to the temple. I will return soon.” Jinyoung ordered and Mark tried to shove his horse away.

“No. I am going to fight. I’ve taken history my whole life, I know some weaknesses to their traps. I can help. Move!” Mark finally got free and rode towards the city. Jinyoung groaned and followed quickly after him, not about to let him go at this alone. Mark knew not who he was up against, or how to truly fight. This was sending him into his death, blind, but Jinyoung would do all he could to help.

Thankfully the fatigue from their long march made it easier for the order to mow through the enemy soldiers. Their actions were slow and clumsy, it lead to easier and swifter kills. Mark had never taken a life before, but he knew this was different times.

He had to for the safety of the people, and for the order.

Running through the center of the village, Mark tried to assist with the townspeople. Helping them get safe inside their homes, telling them how to bar the doors to prevent anyone from getting inside. Jinyoung kept fighting, the order now together as they ripped through people with the most practiced ease Mark had ever witnessed. They moved as one almost, untouchable to the untrained soldiers lunging spears and daggers their way in a caveman like fashion.

The floor became covered with spurts of crimson as they showed no signs of letting the city be taken. Through their fighting, Mark noticed a small child running towards the mess of soldiers in search of his parents. Mark bolted from where he was to try and save the boy from harm’s way. He watched in horror as the soldier knocked into the young boy, throwing him up against a stone wall. Mark quickly took the man out by slicing open an artery in his neck before he scooped the boy up, checking his pulse before looking for a safe place to take him.  
Figures. He was at the temple.

Quickly, he bolted up the stairs with the boy in his arms, bursting through the door and into the courtyard. Jinyoung looked up at the sight and felt a panic run through his body.

He remembered Mark’s story that he told them. He found a boy, tried to save him, and his war lead Mark to them. Now Mark was saving a little boy, and leading him into the temple just as he had in 2017. Jinyoung felt his whole world start to shatter, the vision tunneling on Mark running up the steps. 

“MARK NO!!!” Jinyoung screamed, barely missing a spear to the head. He quickly killed the assailant before bolting after Mark. The boys watched him go and felt the same panic as Jinyoung, as they quickly finished the wave of soldiers and ran after him.

Mark carried the boy into the main temple, there were several scared people praying for their lives curled up around the statue of their God. Mark handed the boy off to a woman, mumbling something about how he would be right back and to keep him safe, before he ran outside. He knew where they hung their bedding out to dry, he could use that to bandage the boy up and anyone else that needed it. He moved as fast as his legs could carry him out back towards the gardens, not focusing on what he was doing.

Jinyoung rushed into the temple, the people screamed in fear at the sight of a soldier. 

“Where did he go?” Jinyoung yelled, they all pointed towards the back and watched as Jinyoung ran as fast as he could. Jumping over anything that stood in his way before breaking through the back doors.

“MARK DON’T DO IT. STOP!!” Jinyoung cried, rushing to the gardens as he watched Mark heading for the statue, at the bottom of the hill, where the blankets were blowing dry in the wind. He was so close to it.

Hearing the yelling, Mark looked behind him, seeing Jinyoung, he tried to stop but he couldn’t find his footing. He smashed right into the statue and fell down the hill nearby. Jinyoung screamed as he moved faster to where Mark was sliding, picking him up as he started to roll down the grass. He got him into his lap and hugged his head to his chest, rocking him to try and wake him up. The other boys finally caught up, out of breath from running so fast. Jaebum stopped them in the garden, wanting them to give Jinyoung his privacy. 

“No no no no. I just got you. Please don’t do this to me!” Jinyoung yelled, watching as Mark’s body started to seemingly fade. Jinyoung tried to hold him closer, pull his body to his own as he kissed the top of his head several times.

“I love you. You can’t leave me. Please. Please stay. I will do anything. I need you here, we all need you here. You can’t leave us, not yet. Wake up please, you can fight this.” Jinyoung cried, trying to hold Mark’s body closer, he felt lighter and lighter in his arms, as if Mark was turning into a ghost before his eyes. Jinyoung cried, begging over and over again until he was gone. Jinyoung’s arms crashed against his chest from the force of him trying to hold on so tight, he looked down, stunned and speechless as Mark’s body was no longer there.

All that remained was the phone that had fallen from his pocket in the crash.

Jinyoung curled in on himself, sobbing harder than ever before as he let out a blood curdling scream. It echoed through the city, sending fear into the hearts of all who heard it, even the boys. They jumped in fear before rushing closer to Jinyoung, who screamed again, and again.

He was enraged. Inconsolable even. His entire heart and soul felt as if it had vanished with Mark.

“I won't let you have him!”

He got up and quickly pulled his sword out, the metal already covered in blood from the battle he had been fighting. But this, to him, was his most important one. He went after the statue. The vicious clinking of metal against stone rang through the temple. Crimson splashes stained the stone as Jinyoung chipped away at it, screaming as loud as he could. He wouldn’t let it take the only person he’d ever loved, and not pay for it. The boys watched in horror, feeling helpless that their leader was going through so much pain. Watching Jinyoung break down, watching him take out a lifetime of sadness and heartbreak on the statue, it killed them all. They wanted Mark back, not just because they cared, but they knew this would be the end of Jinyoung if they didn’t find a way.  
Knowing he was at risk of Jinyoung killing him, Youngjae walked over, carefully putting his hand on Jinyoung’s back to help calm him down. Jinyoung dropped his sword, letting out a loud cry before he dropped to his knees. Violently sobbing as his entire body shook with obvious heartbreak.

“Give him back.” He whimpered, sobbing against the statue. Reaching his hand up, he felt at the statue, along where the cuts were.

“Please.. give him back.”

—————————————————————————————————————-

When Mark came to he felt as if his body had been hit with a ton of bricks. He carefully got up and blinked several times to clear the fog shrouding his vision, trying to get a clear picture of the world around him. It was night, there was debris everywhere, and the sound of bombs in the distance. He spun several times, looking lost and confused before another bomb landed in the distance, causing more of the ground to shake.

“No no no no, fuck!!” Mark cried, looking to the statue. It was the same as it had been, only he noticed the amount of cuts in the stone. Markings from a blade as if someone had been trying to take it down. He reached his fingertips up and touched along the indents, a choked cry came out as he pushed his head into the stone.

“Send me back.”

“Jinyoung!” Mark cried out, bashing his fists against the stone. “SEND ME BACK.” He cried harder, pulling away once his knuckles were bloody, red splashes stained the white stone. The statue a source of misery for him now.

He heard a voice calling him, spinning around, he saw a soldier from his unit rushing towards him. The soldier looked frantic.

“Tuan, are you okay? We have wounded women and children in the temple, we need all hands on deck.” The man yelled, Mark looked at the statue a final time before he ran away from it and back inside.  
There were more wounded than he remembered, he made quick work of the supplies trying to get everyone healed. He patched up the little boys leg, trying to put his heartbreak to the side and work through the tears.

An elder woman walked up to him once most people were done, handing him a cup of water and making him sit on the steps nearby. He noticed it was the same woman he handed the child over to when he first entered the temple. 

“Thank you ma’am, I need to get back to work though.” 

“You were crying at the statue. Why were you crying?” She asked, kneeling down to look at Mark. He felt his heart break at the mention of it.

“It’s a long story.” He said, hoping he didn’t have to give any more details.

“That is the last order statue. Legend says long ago there were private orders that guarded the cities. One by one they all were either killed off, or died of old age. There was but one order left, a group of seven. They say one day the order grouped around that statue for a battle when their seventh fell against invading forces, it was a war this city had never seen before. They fought for hours, some say it was days. Slaying wave after wave of an entire army, but never leaving the statue alone. When the fighting was done, it was said they all vanished. They were never seen again. It’s said to be their final resting place. That is why this temple remains unchanged. To preserve their memory and all they did for this village.” The elderly woman smiled and bowed her head to Mark before getting up. Mark was frozen.

Seven? There was only six. He..

“But these are only stories. Be careful out there, who knows what may happen. This city has not seen war since then.” She warned. Looking around the room for others who would need help, before heading out to leave Mark to rest. 

“TUAN, WE NEED HELP!” A soldier screamed from the back. Mark snapped to, looking over at the man yelling for him. Another coreman he had seen around base stood there with a panicked look on his face. 

“Six males wounded, found out back.” He yelled again, rushing towards the back, where the statue was. Mark quickly jumped up, racing through the building, six people found, six. It couldn’t be, could it? Mark didn’t care, he had to get out of the gardens and to the statue as quickly as possible. Getting closer to the top of the hill, he looked down and saw them. Six bodies, all in a perfect circle, face down around the statue.

“JINYOUNG!” Mark screamed, rushing down the hill and onto his knees, he rolled Jinyoung over and lifted his head up.

“Jinyoung wake up. Please. Wake up. HELP! Wake them up!!” Mark pushed the soldier towards the others who were laying the same as Jinyoung had been.

“You know them?” The soldier said, starting to check Jackson’s pulse. 

“They are alive! Where did they come from?” He questioned and Mark shoved him again. 

“I SAID GO GET HELP SOLDIER.” He screamed, and outranking the guy, he had no room to argue with Mark.

“Jinyoung hang on, I’m here. Please hang on.” Mark spoke softly, rubbing his back as he waited for the support to come. Carefully they got all six of them up the hill and into the building, Mark hovered over them all as they were inspected by the doctors provided, and made comfortable to rest until they woke up. The wait felt like hours for Mark, he paced the beds, watching them all like a hawk; not letting anyone get close to them that he didn’t know.

A bomb going off in the distance shook the temple. Five of them bolted upright ready to fight, looking as scared and displaced as Mark did when he arrived in their time.

“Where are we?” Youngjae questioned, quickly getting up with his weapon drawn, until he saw Mark. 

“HYUNG! MARK!” Youngjae yelled, rushing to his side, wrapping him up in a hug.

“Where is Jinyoung?” He questioned, looking around until he saw Jinyoung still asleep on the bed. He pulled Mark over and shook his arm. 

“Wake him up! Mark wake him up!” Youngjae demanded, getting emotional at the sight of their fallen leader. Jackson ripped Youngjae away.

“Stop it. Do you not think he is trying.” Jackson yelled, looking around the building, confused.

“Is this… your…” Jackson proceeded with caution, Mark nodded his head. 

“Oh boy.” Jaebum groaned, rubbing his head.

“The future!” Yugyeom yelled, clinging to Bambam as they moved to get down on their knees around Jinyoung’s bed.

“He fought the hardest, and the longest.” Jaebum said, bowing his head in prayer. Mark watched them all hover around Jinyoung, he himself seemed rooted at his bedside.

Looking around the room, Mark noticed the woman that had spoken to him about the statue, was nowhere to be found, as if she had seemingly vanished. Worrying, Mark remained by Jinyoung’s side while the other Navy soldiers tended to everyone else. They didn’t ask questions about the five praying, or why Mark would only tend to the one they were praying around.

Every time a bomb went off outside, the building shook, the boys cringed in fear, but Mark stayed focused. He wiped off Jinyoung’s head with a wet rag, cleaned up his blood covered arms. Fixing the covers, he noticed his phone in Jinyoung’s possession. He took it from him and smiled, opening the screen to see that Jinyoung had been looking at pictures of him.

It slowly became morning and the fighting outside finally stopped. The world fell into a scary silence as the city began to assess the damages and lives lost due to war. They didn’t know if it was over, or what the night would bring, but they worked together to help do what they could. Mark was called to help, whimpering as he looked down at Jinyoung’s sleeping body.

“Hyung, we will watch him. We will get you when he wakes up, go.” Bambam encouraged.

Mark nodded his head and left with several other soldiers, heading into the city to find the wounded and help get them to the temple. He would check on Jinyoung every time he was allowed to go back. Youngjae had went into the kitchen to start helping prepare food, Jackson was tending to the people with what Mark had shown him every time he himself had to get patched up. Jaebum and Bambam stayed by Jinyoung’s side, praying, while Yugyeom had rushed off to help assist the soldiers find the wounded.

The efforts took all day but luckily the majority of the mayhem happened outside of the village as a scare tactic rather than a full on assault. The city wasn’t in as bad of shape as Mark thought it would have been, which was great for both the villagers and the military. It would be easy to rebuild better and stronger. Mark was near the water where the fish market had stood, his mind drifting to Eunwoo as he was finishing up wrapping a young girls arm. Youngjae rushed over to him seemingly in a panic. He looked so lost and confused, covered in several cuts no doubt from cooking in a somewhat modern kitchen. Out of breath, he took a moment to collect himself before he tugged at Mark’s uniform.

“Jinyoung woke up. He is scared. He’s trying to... Fight.” Youngjae hunched over, wanting to recover, but Mark didn’t let him. Mark was up in seconds, running as fast as his legs would let him, towards the temple. He could hear things crashing the closer he got. Pushing the doors open, he watched as Jinyoung swung his staff at anyone that tried to get close. Several soldiers had weapons drawn ready to taser him, should he get violent.

“Back down!” Mark yelled, pushing through them to get to Jinyoung.

“Hey. Breathe. You’re okay.” Mark whimpered, seeing Jinyoung look so scared. Jinyoung stopped when he saw Mark, the spear dropping to the ground. 

“Have I reached heaven yet?” Jinyoung asked, Mark shook his head no and took a few steps closer.

“2017.” Mark smirked, taking a few more steps until he was closer to Jinyoung. 

“I thought… I lost you. I cursed the gods, I fought with no care to live or die..” Jinyoung whimpered, reaching out with shaky hands until he felt Mark’s face. The warmth of his skin, the softness known to only him. “My love.”

Mark whimpered, pushing close to Jinyoung. He wrapped his arms around Jinyoung as the soldiers watching lowered their weapons. Youngjae swatted them away to give the two their privacy. The lot of them were overly confused at the sight before them, especially the ones that knew Mark and thought he was single.

“So that’s where Tuan goes every night.” A officer close to Mark smirked, turning to shoo away the lot of them, making them all get back to work.

“Are we stuck here forever?” Jinyoung whispered, Mark could only shrug. 

“I hope so…” Mark licked over his lips, unable to hold back the smile. Jinyoung was safe. He was alive. That was all that mattered to him. Jinyoung leaned in, kissing Mark gently, almost as if he weren’t sure Mark was real. 

“Hyung… what are we to do… how are we going to belong here?” Yugyeom frowned, walking over to them. Mark hadn’t even thought of that. They were people that didn’t exist. They had no identification, no money, no family. Chewing at his lower lip in thought, Mark pulled from Jinyoung to look at the boys surrounding them. 

“I will find a way.” Mark nodded his head, a promise he would try to keep in return for the care he received from them.

“My contract is only here for another year, then I have to return to America. I have that much time to figure things out.” Mark sighed, knowing it would take a miracle to figure out.

“You will leave your order, and remain here in Korea with us.” Jinyoung stated as if it were the easiest thing ever.

“This is not my country, I’m not a citizen, and if I don’t finish my contract with the Navy, I could go to jail for abandoning my country. I promise, I will sort this all out. Trust me?” Mark frowned, eyes locking with Jinyoung’s own before he finally nodded.

“You have never let us down, we will follow you wherever.” Jinyoung stated.

“We are your order now.” The boys bowed, getting down on one knee around Mark to swear their lives to him. Jinyoung joined them, keeping his hand in Mark’s own. 

“What has Tuan gotten himself into?” One of the soldiers asked watching from a distance, another shrugged his shoulders in confusion. 

“Beats me.”


	5. 2017

The first time the boys left the building and made their way for town was interesting to say the least. Getting them all in a van was more challenging than Mark expected it to be. They didn’t seem to grasp how it worked. Eventually, when they were all buckled in, Mark climbed into the driver's seat and started back for the main city, where they had been instructed to take the wounded and displaced. Sleeping accommodations had been set up for them, and Mark took the opportunity to get them all together before another soldier separated them.

 

The boys gripped each other for dear life as the car started moving. Jinyoung was stunned in the front seat as he watched the world fly by in horror. None of them did well with the motion of the car as they got onto the highway and picked up speed. Luckily, nobody had thrown up yet, but that didn’t mean it was unlikely by the end of the trip.

 

“SLOW DOWN WE WILL DIE!” Jackson shrieked, hiding his face in Jaebum's neck.

 

“I’m going the speed limit. Please settle down. We will be there in an hours time.” Mark turned the radio on, hoping that some music would help calm them down. Jinyoung jumped, stuck in his seat by the seat belt, he looked over to Mark with a very unhappy face.

 

“You have trapped us in here, what happens if it fails.” Jinyoung moved to press a button, blasting the air conditioner at them all. Mark quickly turned it off, turning the radio down a bit.

 

“That is a seat belt, and if the car tips over, it prevents you from flying out of the car. It’s just there to help you. Please sit back, close your eyes, we will be there soon, and I can get you guys checked into your hotels.” Mark sighed, licking over his lips as he leaned back in the seat. Jinyoung reached over to put his hand on Mark’s leg, worrying himself as he looked out of the window.

 

Thankfully they all were so tired from the past few days, that within a few minutes they were all fast asleep, Jinyoung included. Mark made sure they were all safe as he drove with extra caution towards the city. When they were about five minutes away, Mark turned the radio off, carefully shaking Jinyoung awake. He looked startled, turning his body to see Mark as he blinked the sleep away from his eyes.

 

“We are almost there.” Mark smiled, putting the windows down as he pulled up to a stop light. Jinyoung looked around confused before he tilted his head somewhat out of the window to get a better look.

 

“Where are we?” Jinyoung’s eyes went wide, looking at how tall the buildings were, how many people were walking around. It was the world’s biggest culture shock, and it was still his culture.

 

“Busan, still. I think this is where… we went that time during war? Remember the small city we went to, where you guys snuck into the base.” Mark figured that was right, though it was hard to tell with how urban the whole area had become.

 

“This is it now? You would never know a great war was fought here.” Jinyoung said in awe, looking out of the window again as Mark started to drive. “You are going so fast, are you not worried?”

 

“I am really not going fast at all. The hotel is in sight, do you want to wake them?” Mark nodded his head back and Jinyoung nodded, he turned and said a command loudly that had all of them sitting up in seconds. Mark always found that amusing to him.

 

“Hyung, where are we?” Jackson yawned, rubbing at his eyes.

 

“Still the village of Busan, from what Mark tells me.”

 

“This is…. No way this is.” Bambam looked out of the window, seeing all the buildings.

 

“It’s not called a village now, this is a city.” Mark slowed down so they could get a better view. The six of them looked out of the windows in total awe as Mark pulled up in front of the hotel, alongside two other van’s carrying villagers.

 

Turning the car off, Mark got out and moved to the side to open the door for them. All six tried to get out but didn’t understand how their seatbelts worked. Mark would have been more help had he not been laughing so hard, ignoring all the dirty looks from the boys as they slowly started to figure out how to get out. Jinyoung getting it first and then helping the others figure out how the buckle worked.

 

All of them shot evil glares towards Mark as they stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk. He couldn’t help it, or even hide his smirk, It’s not that he didn’t want to help but he just found them struggling to be kind of adorable. It wasn’t like they were from a few years in the past where things changed, or became better versions of what was already there, literally everything was different.

 

Getting inside the hotel, Mark walked up to a few other soldiers checking the six in. Mark felt overly nervous about this part since being how displaced they truly were, he figured he would have a hard time getting them rooms, but it seemed a lot of people from the village didn’t have any proper sort of identification. Be it, they lost it in the attacks, or were so off the grid they were never registered in the first place.

 

“They were all born and raised in the temple from what they’ve told me. Orphans. They don’t have any registered information.” Mark made up, putting on quite a show. The officer checking them all in just sighed, flipping a few papers around to get to the unregistered section.

 

“They can be taken for registration in a few days time, the hospital records building was hit and with it, we lost a ton of records that should have been put in computers. If their birth certificates were in that, there is no way of recovering them, we will have to issue all new ones. What are their names?” The officer stated, looking at the boys before back to Mark.

 

“Oh uh. Park Jinyoung, Im Jaebum, Choi Youngjae, Kim Yugyeom, Wang Jackson, Kunpimook Bhuwakul.” Mark helped with the spelling before the officer handed over three room keys.

 

“Try saying that last one five times fast. If they are a religious unit, we don’t want to separate them. These three rooms are joined, they can stay in there for the time being. Are you going to take full charge of them?” He asked, and Mark would never say no to that. The guy just nodded, waving Mark off to deal with another group that had arrived. Mark couldn’t believe how easy that was, or how much they lucked out. If he could get them all established, it would make his life ten times easier. Then again, they still hadn’t gone to officially get them documents, so he couldn’t celebrate yet.

 

“What are we to do? We will have to go back to the temple right?” Jinyoung asked, looking around the building nervously.

 

“No, we will stay here for a few days until we can get you all sorted into current Korean life. We need to get you guys registered, stable, able to make a life for yourself here. It’s not like… back home, where you can do as you want whenever, everything needs documentation.” Mark sighed, walking them to the elevator and pressing the button to head up to the floor written on the cards he was handed.

 

“What if we have to go back? How do we know we will be stuck here…” Jackson looked around nervous, nearly jumping out of his skin when the elevator doors opened. He rushed behind Jaebum, looking at it with caution from the safety of Jaebum’s back.

 

“You guys have to get inside.” Mark smirked, ushering them all in before he stood in the center, pressing the button up to the twenty-second floor before he let the doors close.

 

As it went up, nearly all of them braced themselves. Mark looked over at Youngjae who was clinging to his body, face pushed into his side. He let out a whimper, crying out in pain as Jinyoung knocked him in the side, pushing him away from Mark.

 

“Not allowed, from any of you! Mark is my life partner.” Jinyoung made clear, pulling Mark close to him. Mark’s eyes went wide, looking back at Jinyoung for a moment before he looked to everyone else.

 

“I was just hugging him, that’s a modern thing he said!” Youngjae rubbed his side, frowning at the pain still radiating through his side as he curled up into Jaebum.

 

“Why am I everyones blanket today?” He scolded, swatting Youngjae away before the door opened. Looking shocked, all of them got out cautiously, as if they expected an enemy to start a fight on the other side of the door.

 

“Follow me.” Mark walked down the hall, looking at the room numbers before he found the three on the cards. Inserting the card in one of the doors, he waited for it to unlock before he opened the door and took a look inside. “Wait here, okay?”

 

Vanishing behind the door, he heard the boys trying to get in as he rushed through the other rooms and unlocked the doors so they were all open together. There were two rooms that had two full sized beds, and a one bedroom suite. Mark knew the combination was popular among party goers who would rent out full floors during special holidays. Once he had everything set up for the boys, he walked back to the first door and let them all inside. Curiously, they walked in, scared almost to touch anything before the door was shut behind them.

 

“There are five beds. You three can take this room, Jaebum and Jackson you can take the one over, Jinyoung, you can sleep in the last one.” Mark patted the bed, removing his hat, setting it down on the little writing desk.

 

“Where are the beds?” Jackson asked, looking around confused. Mark nodded over to the large full sized bed, pulling the covers back.

 

“These are beds?” He gasped, moving to lay down on it before he let out a loud groan. Youngjae giggled, moving to lay down on the bed next to him, curling up with the pillow.

 

“Is this how you guys sleep all the time?” Jackson pushed his face into the pillow as Mark started to laugh.

 

“Yes, these are what we sleep on. Mine is quite smaller because I live back on that Military base you guys saw. I’ll get you guys settled and then I have to run out. But I’ll make sure you have food and clothes sent to you.” Mark leaned against the desk, watching them all start to poke around the rooms.

 

“You will stay with me tonight, right? Sleep by my side?” Jinyoung asked, putting his hands on either side of Mark’s face, lifting it so he could better see him.

 

“Of course. I don’t have to stay in the area, but if I’m called, I will have to go back. I’m going to return the van, go buy you all clothes, and then come back with food. I want you all to take a shower, wash up.” Mark pushed off the desk, pushing his head against Jinyoung’s before he lead them all into one of the bathrooms.

 

“Okay, so this is where you wash. You turn it on like this, the red is to make it hotter, the blue is to make the water cold. It won't ever run out, so you don’t have to worry about how long you can be in here, just don’t take forever, because you all have to shower. There is one in that room, Jinyoung, you have your own private shower.” Mark turned the water off and shook his hands dry. “These are towels, use them to dry yourself off.”

 

“Hyung, this is all so much, how will we ever… adjust. Your time is impossible compared to ours. It is easy to live without but now we must relearn everything.” Yugyeom frowned, trying to move the shower handle, jumping back when it got too hot.

 

“I will be here every step of the way to help you through this.” Mark promised, looking at his pocket as his phone started to ring. Funny how it worked again, even if technically, he never left.

 

“Hello?” Mark listened, walking out of the room to better hear. He quickly made his way down to Jinyoung’s room to write down a few things one of his officers was saying to him before he hung up.

 

“Return to me quickly. I can manage them just fine but, even the language… you taught us some but I’m lost in reading it.” Jinyoung frowned, sitting on the edge of his large bed.

 

“I will be back. When this here,” he pointed to the digital clock on the nightstand, “says 4:30, I’ll be back! So three hours.” Mark smiled, moving to cup the side of Jinyoung’s head.

 

“I will protect you all in my time. I promise you.” Mark leaned down and softly kissed at Jinyoung’s lips. Jinyoung happily returned the kiss before he got to his feet.

 

“Go! Three numbers is not much time. We will explore our new world until you get back.” Jinyoung offered his best smile.

 

“Here are the keys to get in and out of the rooms. Please do not leave under any circumstances. If anyone comes to take your information, tell them Petty Officer Second Class Tuan already took it.”

 

“Petty Officer Second Class Tuan.. so everyone calls you Tuan formally, but not us?” Jinyoung raised an eyebrow. Mark just smirked and leaned up, kissing his lips again.

 

“In the Military, everyone goes by their last name. But I didn’t think about that with you guys?” Mark shrugged, pulling from Jinyoung, leading him back to where everyone was.

 

“I will go get some of my clothes for you guys to change into, i’ll have to buy you guys pants so lets hope I get the size correct. Tomorrow we will go out and try a few things out before I start to really show you around. For now, Jackson… you know the most of the lettering I taught you right?” Jackson nodded his head.

 

“This is the dinner menu, if you pick up that phone, and press the button 5, you can order any of the food from this menu and have it sent up to the room. Just tell her, hello this is room 2205 I would like to order, then give her what you guys want to eat, then say thank you and put the phone back on this.” Mark showed him before he let Jackson test it out a few times. Once he felt they got the hang of it, he took his leave.

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Mark was out a little longer than he thought, having to explain what happened in the temple to what felt like a million people. Saving as many people as he could have, they all wanted to hear the story, and to thank him for going above and beyond. He asked if due to the stress he would be relieved of work for a day or two, which none of them argued with him about. They said he could take an extended weekend and report back on Monday.

 

Gathering up several of his shirts, some of his hats, anything he could think of that he would need over the next several days, Mark did up his actual ditty bag and swung it over his shoulder.

 

“There is our hero. So uh, what is this rumor of you getting yourself a priest boyfriend?” His roommate asked, walking out of the shared bathroom. Mark rolled his eyes, throwing a small remote at him before he zipped up his hoodie.

 

“He isn’t a priest, he just has a simple way of life. He’s a martial arts major in town, teaches a class down by the old temple.” Mark made up, the same story he had told anyone else who asked him about Jinyoung. Why everyone was being so nosy about his personal life, was beyond him.

 

“You off for the weekend?” The guy asked, Mark nodded his head and took his leave without another word.

 

Quickly he jumped in the car he shared with a friend of his, and drove himself back into town. He made a quick stop to grab a few pairs of pants in various sizes that the boys might be able to fit into, grabbed some food, and a few other things before he got back to the hotel. The chaos seemed to have died down, which was good. There were only a few people left in the waiting area for rooms, Mark was happy to see them eating and smiling. A resilient bunch.

 

Getting into the elevator, and heading up to the correct floor, Mark knocked several times on the door. He heard yelling and moving around before the door opened, Jackson poked his head out and smiled when he saw Mark, moving to let him in.

 

“You look well showered…. Why are you naked?” Mark groaned, setting down the bags, he had to quickly dig out all the new boxers he had bought. Handing one over to Jackson, he quickly went and passed them out to the other boys along with the pants and shirts. They fought over the clothing which made him laugh, but they didn’t want to be naked any more than Mark wanted to see them naked. So it worked.

 

“Where is Jinyoung?” Mark asked, they all pointed towards the far back suite. Mark nodded and made his way through the rooms to where Jinyoung’s was.

 

He saw his clothes littered on the floor, a pile of bloody rags, along with the gear for his head. Mark raised an eyebrow, heading towards the bathroom, peaking in, he saw Jinyoung standing under the spray. The subtle frosting of the glass covered his private areas, but everything else was exposed. Mark noticed his hair was down, pin straight raven strands cascading down to his shoulder blades. Jinyoung moved from the spray and opened his eyes, seeing Mark standing there, he chewed at his lip before he nodded for him to come closer. Mark took a few steps in, his hand going up against the glass. Jinyoung put his hand over Mark’s and smirked.

 

“Come in.” He said, Mark’s jaw dropped at the forward invitation.

 

“What about traditions and customs? We aren’t married.” Mark teased, undoing his hoodie before setting it down nearby.

 

“We are also six hundred years replaced in time. My family is not here to be judged for my actions, I have spent my whole life pleasing other people.” Jinyoung slid open the door. Mark watched as his whole body came into view, a sight he never thought he would actually get to see. Not like this anyway.

 

Jinyoung was defined in places Mark didn’t know you could be, but in the most wonderful of ways. It wasn’t too much, Mark didn’t like overly muscular guys, it wouldn’t look good on Jinyoung either. He was athletic, built as an assassin would be. His thighs thick, his ass the definition of perfect. Mark found his mouth watering at the sight, eyes lingering on every inch of him before he finally allowed himself to look at his cock. A groan came from Mark’s lips, quickly, he fumbled with his shirt, tossing it off to the side.

 

“Join me.” Jinyoung smirked, taking a step back under the spray and out of Mark’s direct line of sight.

 

That might have been a blessing in some ways since Mark was able to actually think long enough to get his pants off without dying, but it didn’t last long. Once he was good and naked, he moved to shut the door to the bathroom, giving them privacy before he moved quickly into the shower. Jinyoung smirked as Mark got under the spray, his hands moving to slide down his sides and to his hips, drawing him closer.

 

“Since when are you so forward?” Mark teased, looking up at Jinyoung, who was blushing despite his dominating behavior.

 

“I am in your time now, like I said earlier, with no family to upset by not producing a heir. Nobody here will judge me as I am, which means I can explore a side of me that I have not allowed in my lifetime. I have always felt an attraction to men, it’s why I joined the order in the first place, to hopefully stop those thoughts by having none at all.” Jinyoung moved to push Mark back against the glass of the shower, his hips pressed close to Mark’s as their bodies slid together.

 

“That’s not how it works.” Mark smirked, leaning in to pepper Jinyoung’s neck with kisses, sliding his lips along his jawline, nipping at the rough skin.

 

“I found that out quickly when you came into our lives. I would watch you every day, and how the sun seemed to follow you around. You were always glowing, even at night, and I was unable to think properly about anything but you. I was so scared by my thoughts, but this… you are out of my world Mark.” Jinyoung lifted his head to give Mark more space before he smirked.

 

“But now I am in yours, and I have no reason to behave anymore.” Jinyoung’s hands moved down to grip at Mark’s hips, sliding back to his ass, pulling him close against his body. Mark couldn’t help but moan as he felt Jinyoung’s cock growing stiff against his hips.

 

“Well. There are things here that we can do, that I’m not sure you guys knew much about.” Mark wiggled one of his eyebrows, pushing Jinyoung back before he sank down to his knees. Jinyoung watched Mark, the soap washing off his skin as he got back under the spray. Mark helped his body rinse off before he placed tender kisses to his hips, trailing his lips down. Jinyoung’s eyes went wide, moving to push Mark’s head back some.

 

“Are you about to...” Jinyoung had no idea what was going on, or even had time to finish what he was saying.

 

Mark took Jinyoung into his mouth in one swift motion, tongue swirling around the full length as he started to bob his head along the wet skin. Jinyoung reached for the glass, his hands pushing against it for support as Mark literally sucked the words right out of him. He had no idea what was going on, but Mark’s lips felt like heaven. He wasn’t unaware of unconventional ways to have sex, sure he’d seen forbidden books showing scenes of such things, mostly coming from the western countries. Not that he could understand the texts, but he knew what the images were of. Things that Mark was currently doing to him.

 

Mark’s lips slid up and down every inch with a perfected ease, relaxing his throat every time he slid down to take Jinyoung as deep as he could. Jinyoung thought he had died and gone to heaven when he saw Mark’s nose press against the base of his stomach, his entire length vanished inside Mark’s hot mouth. It wasn’t until Mark flicked his eyes up and looked at Jinyoung did he truly lose himself. As if he wanted to watch Jinyoung come undone from what he was doing.

 

Jinyoung moved a shaky hand to the back of Mark’s head and pulled him off. Groaning at the shower water hitting his erection as Mark licked over his lips. A sight so seductive he nearly came right then and there.

 

“What if I told you that I want all of you? To go as far as any couple can...” Jinyoung’s voice was hoarse, as if he needed to drink a gallon of water. Mark couldn’t help but bite his lip at how sexy it was, pulling his head from Jinyoung’s grasp to place kisses along his length.

 

“I would question if you’re ready, that’s a pretty big step, and we’ve only just gotten you to admit you’re gay.” Mark didn’t want Jinyoung to jump into anything he wasn’t ready for, but he knew times were different.

 

Jinyoung didn’t seem to like that answer however, he quickly pulled Mark to his feet and pushed him back against the glass.

 

“My answer will always be yes when the question is, can I make love to the man I desire most in this... new world.” Jinyoung stated in a voice so serious, all Mark could do to not go weak at the knees was hold onto Jinyoung’s biceps.

 

“You have to open me up first. You can’t just go… in. I’ll be hurt.” Mark informed, figuring that was probably a new discovery. Jinyoung looked a little lost. Mark figured he would be.

 

“I can do it for myself this time, but it’s tight down there. You have to help it not be so painful. Watch what I’m doing.” Mark licked over his lips, surging forward to kiss Jinyoung before he turned his body around. Jinyoung looked down at Mark’s ass and smirked before Mark pushed his hips away.

 

“Not yet. Watch.” Mark said softly, swatting Jinyoung’s hands away. He saw the male pout but he kept to himself the second warning.

 

Water wasn’t the best lube, but since they were in a shower, he figured it wouldn’t be that bad. His hand slid around to tease at himself, he could feel how close Jinyoung was watching him. When he finally worked up to slipping his finger inside of him, it was Jinyoung’s turn to let out a groan. He moved his free hands to Mark’s ass, feeling along the soft skin as Mark worked his finger in and out of himself. Jinyoung’s eyes never leaving Mark’s ass as he made a second finger vanish deep inside of himself. Jinyoung was in awe of the way Mark’s body moved and bent as his fingers worked inside of him. The look of pure ecstasy on his face, the way his jaw hung agape ever so. It made Jinyoung weak at the knees.

 

“Is this what you need me to do from now on? Before I make love to you?” Jinyoung asked, it was almost adorable how interested he seemed. Mark faltered, moaning out as he pushed his head against the cool glass for support.

 

Jinyoung didn’t need to be so dreamy.

 

It was rude.

 

“This is what I need you to do next time, but right now, I need you.” Mark whimpered, his voice saturated in lust as he removed his fingers to push his hips back against Jinyoung.

 

It didn’t matter how many generations separated them, sex was sex. It was primal instincts. Not everyone was good in bed, but at least everyone knew the basics of what to do. Jinyoung gripped the base of his cock, using his fingers to steady himself as he carefully lined up with Mark’s ass. He used his free hand to rest on Mark’s back in a soothing way, rubbing the wet skin gently as he rolled his hips slowly. Carefully, he would push a little in, then pull out, only to push in further and pull back out. The water adding a decent lubrication for the time being, until he got all of himself deep inside Mark.

 

The feeling was out of this world. It was tight, it was hot, it was enough to make Jinyoung emotional. He moved his hand and used it to grip at Mark’s slim hips, using the leverage as he pulled out and slid back in all at once, testing how tight Mark was. He could see the need for opening someone up, if Mark was any tighter, he doubted he would have been able to get in at all.

 

This was Jinyoung’s first real time with anyone, but he was happy he waited. Connecting with Mark like this, after everything they had been through, felt right. Yes. It was rushed, they had only just accepted their feelings, well he had just accepted his, but it was one of those situations where after something so traumatic, you needed another big thing to help keep you grounded. Mark was his foundation, and he would do whatever he needed to prove to Mark that he was serious about not only accepting who he was and who he loved, but that he would do anything for Mark.

 

As their bodies moved together, they used every square inch of shower for their benefit. Jinyoung had Mark pressed up the glass in every position his body could bend, and Mark thanked God for the yoga that he did during his time in the past. His body was more limber and able to bend to Jinyoung’s needs.

 

The shower proved to be annoying after a while. Though it helped keep them cool by washing away the sweat, there wasn’t much room to really be close together and comfortable for extended periods of time. Jinyoung wanted to love Mark as he knew he could, for as long as he could.

 

They parted in the hopes of making it to the bed in the middle of the main suite but wounded up on the floor just outside the shower. Not a care in the world of how exposed they were as Jinyoung pinned Mark under him and slid back inside of him with no issues. He picked up pace, hips slapping against Mark’s ass as if he were on a mission. Their wet bodies drying off against the plush carpet.

 

Mark rolled them over to give Jinyoung some rest, hovering over him as he sank his ass back down on his erection. Jinyoung’s eyes wide in awe at the sight of Mark’s body moving up and down in his lap. He put his hands on his hips to help guide him down against him. His feet rooted to the carpet to help push his hips up into Mark, meeting him halfway every time he came down. Mark was a mess, he knew Jinyoung was strong but the power he held was unreal.

 

He wasn’t going to last much longer, not with Jinyoung hitting his prostate dead on with every powerful thrust. The two of them stayed like that in perfect harmony for a few more minutes before Mark could no longer hold back. He had to stop his body, letting Jinyoung slam into him as he reached a hand around to pump at his erection. Seconds later, streams of white came shooting out as his orgasm ripped through his body. Jinyoung followed behind, the pressure of Mark’s ass getting tighter on him left him with little say in the matter, even if he wanted to keep going. The two of them rode out their orgasm’s together before Jinyoung’s hips finally stopped. Mark fell limp down on his chest, trying to control his erratic breathing and heartbeat.

 

They laid there so lost in each other, lazily kissing and smiling at one another until they regained feeling in their limbs. Never before had Mark had sex like that, which was surprising coming from Jinyoung. Sitting up some, Mark looked down at Jinyoung, staying silent for a moment.

 

“What’s wrong? Was that not good for you?” Jinyoung frowned, looking almost nervous.

 

“That was beyond perfect, you’re a natural. Just can’t believe it came from someone who a month ago, swore up and down he wasn’t into men.” Mark teased, bending down to kiss Jinyoung’s chest softly.

 

“I always knew who I was… as far as stuff like that. I just didn’t want to accept it because it’s not allowed. I felt I had to be different, but you came along and ruined all of that.” Jinyoung smirked, sitting up some to wrap an arm around Mark, kissing him deeply. Mark felt himself melting against those full lips.

 

“It’s impossible for people to not love you, all the guys do, I know I do. Probably always have, since the day we met. Something about you made me trust you, made me bring you into my home. I couldn’t let you go, even then, and I won't do it now.” Jinyoung smiled, leaning in for a softer kiss before he heard a knock at the door. Looking up, he yelled for whoever it was to go away.

 

Mark could only laugh, getting up from Jinyoung’s lap, he lead him back into the shower. Only to rinse the cum from them before they properly dried their bodies off. Heading back into the room, Mark had laid out clothes for Jinyoung to try on, he looked at them with such a curious glance before he pulled on the boxers and moved to get the pants on. He struggled a bit, not familiar with the tightness of the material, but they ended up fitting him great. He turned to look at Mark, asking if it was okay. Mark could only smile wide, not sure if Jinyoung realized how amazing his ass looked in those jeans. Moving closer, he did up the zipper, and the button for him, before helping him with the shirt. A simple white t-shirt. Jinyoung looked down at himself before he frowned. Mark just smirked and handed over an oversized sweater for Jinyoung to throw on, helping him feel more covered.

 

“Is this how you dress all the time?” Jinyoung asked, watching Mark get dressed quickly. He felt almost shy about having taken so long.

 

“For the most part, yeah, when I’m not in uniform.” Mark smirked, pulling the pack of hair ties he had bought out of his pocket, moving Jinyoung to sit down on the bed. He carefully pulled his wet hair back, getting it into a somewhat messy bun before he leaned around and kissed Jinyoung’s cheek.

 

“I thought you wanted my hair down.” Jinyoung looked over, unable to stop the smile from forming at the sight of Mark.

 

“I do, but I know you’re comfortable like this. Plus we have to go out and get you all actual clothes, so in public, I want you to be comfortable.” Mark moved to leave the room, Jinyoung just smiled and went with him.

 

Heading back down to the end room, Mark saw the boys all gathered around the coffee maker. Poking at it, flipping it around, trying to figure out what it did. Mark couldn’t help but be amused as he took it from them and plugged it in.

 

“It makes coffee.” Mark smiled.

 

“Coffee?? This?? How! It’s so tiny.” Youngjae gasped, looking closer at the small machine.

 

“Take the coffee.” Mark opened the lid. They all jumped back when the area for the K-Cup sprang out.

 

“Put it here, like this.” Mark set it down and closed it back up. He opened one of the nearby bottles of water and poured it into the machine before setting one of the provided coffee cups under the machine. He pressed the button and let it do its thing. All of the boys, even Jinyoung, leaned in close to watch as the liquid started to pour into the cup below. Shocked at the sight, Mark could only giggle under his breath, moving to let them see closer as the cup filled up.

 

“Be careful, it’s very hot.” Mark warned when Youngjae took the cup to look at the liquid.

 

“Hyung it smells like… sweets.” He looked up, curious, before he took a small sip. Quickly, he stared at the brown liquid, as if he didn’t know what to make of it.

 

“It’s vanilla coffee.” Mark moved away from them to bundle up all their clothes thrown on the floor and set them in one pile.

 

“We were given an allowance to go get you guys clothes, so we can go shopping and go eat, if you’re hungry.” Mark brushed himself off when he was done, fixing his hoodie.

 

“YES! Hyung forgot how to use this thing, so we never could get the food. We are starving.” The boys all said, glaring at Jackson, like he was some type of enemy.

 

“You guys can’t even read the menu okay, I tried!” Jackson frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

Mark was finding it hard to see the fearless order with how displaced they all were. They seemed like regular guys in this time.

 

“Okay, I got a transportation card so we can head into town and do some shopping.” Mark pulled his phone out of his back pocket when it rang, seeing the name that popped up, he shivered and declined the call.

 

“What was that Hyung?” Jackson got up, he had never heard the phone make noise before. At least not outside of the videos that he’d seen Mark play.

 

“Someone called me.” Mark shrugged it off, Jinyoung picked up on Mark’s avoidance though. The way his body tensed up looking at his phone, the way his jaw grew tight. Jinyoung couldn’t help but be curious, however he assumed Mark would tell him. At least he hoped he would.

 

“It’s late out, surely nobody can make us clothes at this hour.” Youngjae worried, chewing at his lower lip as he got up.

 

“People don’t make clothes anymore, they are produced in large amounts and sold for everyone.” Mark explained, opening the door for them to all file out. Once Bambam was out, he shut the door, pocketing the keys to make sure the boys didn’t lose them before he walked to the elevator. Jinyoung walked closer and moved to link his hands with Mark’s own. The rest of the boys gasped, looking at Jinyoung with wide eyes at what he was doing, not sure what overcame him.

 

“Hyung is that allowed?” Bambam’s jaw dropped, looking at the two. Jinyoung stood upright, looking at his order.

 

“I’ve broken my vows, Mark and I consummated our relationship. I understand if you no longer want to follow me.” Jinyoung didn’t look sorry, which was good at least, but Mark’s face turned bright red at the announcement of them having sex.

 

“We know! We heard you two. Not exactly quiet, but why would we no longer follow you? We knew of your love for Mark Hyung.” Yugyeom looked confused, looking over at the others before he turned back to Jinyoung. “We are no longer in our time, the order is… left in the times. But that does not mean we will ever leave you.”

 

The rest of them nodded and Jinyoung looked emotional. He held Mark’s hand tighter, pulling him closer as if he needed his support. Mark happily went, rubbing Jinyoung’s side as the elevator door opened.

 

“Thank you all. That means so much to me.” Jinyoung bowed his head, heading into the elevator, not wanting to show his emotional side. The rest of them understood.

 

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Mark figured a car was still the best mode of transport until they became more adjusted to the world around them. He didn’t think a bus, or a subway on their first day would sit well. They were still having trouble understanding how a car worked, so baby steps were in order.

 

They did better in the car this time around though, even enjoying some of the music that Mark was playing on the radio. Mark decided that parking the car in a garage and walking them around, was going to be the easiest. He didn’t have to help them with the seatbelts this time around, moving to the machine to pay for parking, he handed the ticket over to Jinyoung to hold. He looked at it confused.

 

“Put it in your pocket.” Mark motioned to his pocket to show Jinyoung. He nodded his head and quickly slid his hand into his pocket, letting the ticket stay there. Proud of himself for being helpful, since he was feeling utterly useless.

 

“We can get clothes first, then go eat.” Mark moved to take Jinyoung’s hand. He looked nervous as if doing this in public would be a bad thing, but when seemingly nobody seemed to look at them differently, he felt his body relax some. He walked with more confidence.

 

“How will we be able to eat? Won't it be too late to cook the food? Surely we should have done that first.” Youngjae worried, the chef inside of him in a panic.

 

“Most places to eat are open super late on the weekends, some are open every hour of every day, they never close.”

 

“The people who work there must be very tired.” Yugyeom sighed, looking almost sad for them. Mark snickered and ushered them away from the parking garage. They all tried to walk across the street and Mark had to pull them back.

 

“No! When those lights are red, that means you can’t move. You have to wait for the green. See, nobody is walking.” Mark pointed up to the little stop light. They all huffed, there were too many rules in their new world.

 

When the light turned green, they all walked, Mark lead them into the little strip mall where all the little shops and food places were. The things that seemed to amuse them the most were the amount of people walking around, and how brightly lit everything was at this hour. They stood at the foot of it all just looking around in shock, Mark couldn’t help but pull his phone out and film them. They looked so shocked at the sights around them, and it’s something Mark had never seen before. Genuine enjoyment of the world around them.

 

Mark’s phone rang again in the middle of filming and he sighed, flipping the phone to look at the name. He rolled his eyes again and hung it up. Jinyoung walked over and put his hands on Mark’s shoulders.

 

“Will you not tell me what is happening. Every time your phone goes off, you look distressed.” Jinyoung chewed his lip. He was going to wait, but he hated seeing Mark so conflicted.

 

“Remember my ex boyfriend that I had told you about? The one that cheated on me.”

 

“I don’t understand the meaning of that word, cheated.” Jinyoung crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“He was as we are, together, but then had sex with another man. I caught him doing it.” Mark sighed, sliding his phone into his pocket. Jinyoung looked enraged.

 

“Adultery! A man can be killed for such.” Jinyoung tried to keep his voice down, but to think of anyone able to do that to Mark, had him beyond angry.

 

“Yes well, he keeps trying to contact me. Maybe he heard about what happened and is worried, I know he really did try to stay together after I caught him, but I could never be with someone like that.” Mark shivered at the thought, Jinyoung nodded in agreement.

 

“Well there must be a way for you to stop him from being able to contact you, and you should take those measures.” Jinyoung moved his arms to wrap them around Mark, drawing him closer.

 

“That’s a good… where did the others go?” Mark looked around Jinyoung before he saw that all the boys had left. His eyes went wide as he felt a panic run through his body. Jinyoung looked startled, he could have swore they were behind him. Rushing down the strip for a few minutes, the two of them checked in every store.

 

They found them eventually in a sort of clothing store, just standing in the entrance in awe, looking around. Mark let out a deep breath, holding his hand over his heart before he pushed them.

 

“Jerks! Don’t leave me like that.” Mark scolded, glaring at them all before he looked at the store they were in.

 

“This is the women's section, go over there.” He pointed them towards the other side of the store, they all seemed a bit relieved.

 

From there, it was an actual mess. Mark let them pick out whatever they wanted, under the terms that they had to try it on first, to see if it fit. Once they got the sizing down, it was easier to find things they liked, things they didn’t like. Jinyoung seemed to have such a minimalistic style, not that it shocked Mark or anything. He found it rather endearing that everything he picked out was not only the least expensive, but not really flashy. Bambam and Yugyeom seemed to be the ones going all out.

 

After they had each picked out several outfits, Mark had them wait in line to check out. He had to get receipts for what he bought for each boy. They set their clothes and shoes on the counter one by one, Mark helped them to check out, since they still weren’t familiar with the language. The poor girl ringing them up, had the patience of a saint, though she seemed confused when they couldn’t read what was going on.

 

“They are not from here, I’m trying to help them after the bombing down in Busan.” Mark said in english, and she nodded her head. Thankfully she understood enough to get it, helping the boys a little more. Mark gathered up the receipts as they held onto their bags. It looked like Christmas for them, with all the stuff they all got.

 

“Now we eat! I worry if they would like me to go help them with the cooking when we get there.” Youngjae still was hung up on these places being open around the clock, Mark didn’t know how to explain shifts.

 

Baby steps.

 

“Well what do you guys want to eat?” Mark looked around, from what he could see there were several different kinds of food available, everything from traditional, to American, it seemed.

 

“I want to see how what we ate back home, or well, back in our time, compares to now.” Bambam smiled, looking around as he adjusted the bags in his hands.

 

“Okay. Let’s drop the bags off at the car, then I’ll take you guys some place I like to go eat.”

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Hyung are these the prices!!!” Jackson’s eyes went wide, looking at the menu. He could read some, but not much, but numbers were numbers. Mark looked over and laughed, nodding his head.

 

“Who has this much for meat? Why must we pay so much, we are soldiers.” Jinyoung said in awe, looking over at Mark.

 

“I do. Don’t worry about the prices. I will just order for us all. Nobody cares about that here.” Mark waved the woman over and read off an order he knew would be large enough to feed them all. She wrote everything down, getting all the drinks before heading off to put it in. Mark sat back some, picking at the banchan that had been laid out. Youngjae seemed hesitant but Mark knew as a cook, he wasn’t familiar with newer foods.

 

“It’s all similar. You can eat all of this while you wait.” Mark assured, watching them look at the metal chopsticks in awe, before they started to eat. They all seemed to look to Youngjae first, wanting to get his approval for the food. His eyes went wide as he looked to Mark.

 

“THIS IS SO GOOD!” He praised, amazed at what little he had tasted so far. Jinyoung let out a giggle and moved to start eating. Soon enough, the lunch boxes, raman, and meats came. They ate everything provided and then some. Mark had to order more food twice, he was sure everyone in the building must have thought they were on something, with the amount of food the boys consumed. After a while, Mark had to cut them off, doing a rough total in his head, his heart and wallet hurt him.

 

The woman came with the check and Mark resided to crying in the shower about his bank account later. He wasn’t broke, but he wasn’t planning to feed a family of seven.

 

Signing the credit card receipt, Mark got up to put his wallet away. The boys started to clear up the table and Mark was quick to stop them.

 

“Leave it. They will come and clean this all off.” Mark pushed the plates back down, watching all of the confused looks he was getting.

 

“They work around the clock and are expected to clean up as well. What kind of slave labor is this?” Yugyeom sighed, feeling so sorry for the people. When the girl came to start cleaning, he moved to give her a hug. Mark rushed over to stop him, pulling him away from the nervous looking girl.

 

“Hands to yourself.” Mark made clear, Yugyeom frowned and looked back at the girl.

 

“But I want her to know I’m thankful for her…” Yugyeom argued, adorable, but Mark didn’t need a sexual assault charge on their hands.

 

“Why don’t you write her a letter when you get back to your room.” Mark suggested and Yugyeom nodded his head.

 

“Great idea Hyung! I can bring it back tomorrow for her.” He said, smiling brightly. She probably wouldn’t be there but Mark was tired from playing babysitter.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Once everyone was settled in the room, Mark felt it was best to give them another lesson in the written language. He couldn’t have them running around Korea with no idea of what was what. Thankfully, they learned a little during his time there, Jackson the most, since he seemed to be injured the most, but not enough for Mark to feel safe with them moving around on their own.

 

The traditional language that they were used to seemed to be a hybrid of the Asian tongues. Mostly Chinese and Hangul, so once he got to the very core of it, they seemed to pick it up quickly. Even Jinyoung took diligent notes, not wanting to be a burden on Mark.

 

They studied for several hours before Mark declared it was probably best for them to sleep. Getting the five of them in bed seemed to be an interesting challenge. Only because they didn’t understand how so many layers worked, yet once they got settled in, they seemed to fall asleep within seconds. Mark made sure that Jaebum and Jackson were secure, before he moved to get Yugyeom, Bambam, and Youngjae squared away. Finally he and Jinyoung went back to their suite, he shut the door to give them privacy before he started stripping down to his boxers. Jinyoung raised an eyebrow and did as Mark did, though he looked nervous about removing his boxers.

 

“You don’t have to sleep naked.” Mark said, pulling the covers back. Jinyoung chewed his lip in thought before he pushed them down and kicked them to the side.

 

“If I have those on, how can I make love to you again?” Jinyoung crawled into the bed, Mark raised an eyebrow as he got in next to Jinyoung.

 

“You want to go again? You must be tired.” Mark worried, sliding his body to curl up into Jinyoung’s side. He loved the feeling of his warm body pressed close to his own.

 

“I mean… do we have any reason to be awake early?” Jinyoung smirked, moving to carefully shift his weight so that he was resting between Mark’s legs. Mark’s eyes went wide as he watched Jinyoung.

 

“Not that I know of, no.” Mark stuttered, not sure why this was making him so nervous. They had already had sex, he had seen all of Jinyoung. But the way he was so sure in what he wanted, so set on getting Mark, it was new for Mark; in regards to Jinyoung never typically being this forward. At least not with his sexuality.

 

“I had a taste, I want more.  You are like an addiction and I think we have waited long enough to get to where we are now. For the sake of us not knowing if the universe might pull us apart from each other, I am determined to do everything I can to make this time with you count. To no longer wait, or deprive either one of us from a love that, because of my ignorance, took so long to begin. I wasted so many months sitting, unsure of myself, unsure of my feelings, when I could have been kissing you and treating you as a king, so let me… tonight, make it up to you.” Jinyoung smirked, leaning to kiss along Mark’s neck.

 

Mark melted under his words, it made it sound like the struggle and everything they had been through over the last year was more than he thought. That Jinyoung was suffering the whole time, and he gave him such a headache about being close minded when in reality, he was scared. He was never mad at Mark for being gay, he was jealous that Mark was comfortable being gay in public, and with someone that wasn’t him. Everything started to click, and Mark started to feel horrible for the way he treated Jinyoung in the last several months. It was easy to get caught up in the anger, he never truly stopped to think that Jinyoung was behaving how he was, because of fear or jealousy.

 

“You have nothing to make up to me. It’s me that should be making things up to you.” Mark said softly, leaning up to kiss Jinyoung deeply as he rolled them over, getting Jinyoung down below him. He crawled between Jinyoung’s legs, letting the kiss grow deeper as he rolled his hips down against him.

 

“I wanna show you, how good you made me feel earlier.” Mark purred when they parted from the kiss. Jinyoung looked scared for a moment, but soon, he nodded his head.

 

“We are equal, you love me as I love you.” Jinyoung smiled, interested to see what Mark was going to do.

 

“Watch, and learn.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on twitter @daddyafmarkjin, or comment down below to let me know what you think! Don’t be a silent reader!


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